Neither Here Nor There
by whoficky
Summary: Rose Tyler feels strained under the monotony of living life day after day. When an enemy finds her in her refuge studying in America, will it be the end or the chance she has been waiting for? The Doctor and Donna take a break on a dusty planet when he gets a glimpse of someone he thought was lost to him forever. Will this be their second chance?
1. Chapter 1

_The Doctor cursed in Gallifreyan and sat down rather defeated on the bed that graced his posh prison cell. He had been here exactly…well he couldn't quite connect his time sense…but anyway, it must have been about a quarter of an hour. In that time he had explored every inch of the strangely opulent suite he woke up in only to find it utterly inescapable. And for him that was saying something. Then again, whoever had him imprisoned had also taken his sonic screwdriver and he was far more fuzzy feeling than a Time Lord had any right to be outside of the time right after a regeneration. But no, he was still this him, and thank goodness for that. He'd really won the jackpot with this particular body and he was in no hurry to lose it._

_The Doctor rubbed his temples and thought back to how he got in this predicament since that was a disconcerting blank space in his memories. Images flashed through is head, sharp and distinct, and in a wibbly wobbly order that only his impressive time lord brain could understand. And yet none of it explained _how or why he was here_. Clearly, he was missing something. There was a key period of time he couldn't remember, and it wasn't just because he had been unconscious. The memories were there, somewhere, but something was blocking them from coming to the surface of his mind. He sat down heavily on the king sized bed that graced the center of the room and worked his way through his mess of memories. _

His last concrete memories started with the comforting chatter of his ginger companion. They had been traveling together for several months now and her fiery presence filled up the winding halls of the TARDIS in just the way he needed. It was a funny thing, how these humans had a way of worming their way into his life and his hearts. Of course, the closest he would get to admitting anything like that to Donna was to allow a half grin when she continued to refer to the two of them as "Partners in Crime." Leave it to a human to sum things up just about perfectly.

Last he remembered, the two of them had been at a bazaar on one of the rare shopping trips he indulged his companion. Rassilon knew she already had enough clothes. And purses. And hats. Especially the hats, not that she ever seemed to wear them. But he had to make the morning's disappointment up to her. They had been going to 1969 to see the moon landing from a location safely away from his previous visits to the event. Donna had been chattering even more than normal with anticipation of witnessing the historical spectacle from inside Huston's headquarters. (Thanks, of course, so some quite geniusly crafted perception filters he had whipped up over the last few days while Donna had slept her tediously long sleep cycle.)

However, when he had landed the Tardis in a spare closet of Huston's NASA headquarters, he had instantly noticed that something wasn't right. No, worse than that, something was very, extremely, and possibly even frighteningly wrong. The timelines swirled angrily in a raging storm that he hadn't seen since the Reapers had descended on the church Rose and he had taken refuge in. _Rose_. He pushed the thought of the pink and yellow girl aside, a feat easier than usual thanks to the distraction of the raging swirls of time.

Before Donna could take more than a few steps towards the door, he was at the controls of the Tardis, even more frantic than usual in his efforts to get them back into the safety of the vortex.

"Oi!" Donna turned on him once she had regained her balance from the TARDIS pitching into a series of rolling jolts, "Wadya think you're doing!? Did you land wrong again? Because next time, a little warning would be nice before the floor starts moving about."

The Doctor studied the readouts on the Tardis console intently. "No, no it was the right place," he replied distractedly.

"Wrong time was it then?" Donna said walking back to him, now sounding more amused than irritated, "Landed among the dinosaurs instead of all those brainy scientist, was it? Come to think of it, you've never taken me to see any dinosaurs. Maybe next -"

"No," The Doctor cut her off, "No, time was right too. Spot on, actually. Within seconds of the target time," he managed to preen for a moment at his excellent driving skills.

"Then what the hell are we flying off for?" Donna demanded, moving her hands to her hips. He could tell she was working up to one of her Glares. The kind with the capital G.

The Doctor scratched the back of his head and furrowed his brow in thought. To himself more than in answer to Donna's question he said, "That just it, isn't it? Right place, right time, but _wrong_. As wrong as a thing can be. We weren't crossing my own timeline, were we? No of course not, I would remember. Ah but a future self maybe! No. No no no! Then other me would remember! Unless, I forgot that is. Maybe it was like that time on Fleitxior when the quantum stabilizer…" The Doctor rapidly devolved into technobabble.

"Oi!" Donna brought him back from his mental orbit around a distant planet. He had the feeling it wasn't the first time she had tried to get his attention. "So are we going to watch the moon landing or not?"

"Not." The Doctor said tearing his eyes away from the readouts on the console to address Donna. "Definitely not."

"And why not?!" she demanded, cocking her head at him, eyes narrowed. Oh, he was in dangerous territory now.

"But…but I just _told_ you! The timelines! They were all wrong. Very dangerous. And…"

"Oh stuff it," she cut him off. "I don't think I can deal with another one of your 'very simple explanations' that go on for ages. But I gather that we aren't going to the moon landing, the very trip you have been promising me for days need I remind you, because it would be world ending or some such rubbish."

"Galaxy ending," he corrected. "Possibly even universes ending."

"Well alright then." She shrugged, catching him off guard with her acquiescence. She really was getting the hang of this time travel business. "But you are going to make it up to me, spaceman. We're going shopping."

He had groaned, but complied in the end. He needed a few replacement parts for the Tardis anyway…

_There. That was it. That was when things started getting blurry. He dragged his hands down his face from where they had been busy pulling at his hair and stood up to pace the room. It must be something about…what was the planet he brought them to again? Oh yes, Bloagdore. Specifically the dusty market city on the smallest continent of the mostly ocean planet. Bloagdore…Bloagdore…he couldn't think of anything particularly strange or dangerous about the planet. Sure, it was a interplanetary trading destination. Attracted all sorts, those types of places. But usually the locals ensured it to be a rather safe, and therefore, boring place. Zero tolerance for any funny business. In fact, he had been banished in his fourth incarnation simply for sneezing without covering his mouth! Good thing he'd changed his face a few times since then.. _

_So what was it? What? What? What!? He closed his eyes and went back to his last clear memory again. He tried to move forward in his mind and was stopped abruptly by a very closed and locked door. Figuratively, of course. _

_Now that was strange. _

_He wasn't aware of any outside source that would tie off memories in quite that fashion. There were memory wipers that amusingly looked like a pink earth eraser, but those just left white space where the memories would be. There were countless poisons that could do the trick, but he was immune to 97.3% of them, not to mention this poisons also obliterated the memory completely. His mind spiraled off in all of the 4,364,978 ways a Time Lord's memory could be tampered with and only one left him with what he was currently facing. Which meant…which meant that _he _was the one who tampered with his memories. What on Gallifrey would make him do that? It wouldn't be the first time, he supposed, but tinkering with his memories had certainly never resulted in him waking up companionless and imprisoned before. Well, almost never. Weeell, maybe twice if he was completely honest. He nudged at the lock in his mind and snorted at his rather shoddy job of it. Rushed and crude, that was. Barely above what one would expect of a time tot. None of this was making sense and with Donna and an inescapable room to think about, he had better figure this mess out soon. With a deep breath he kicked down the door in his mind and was instantly flooded with a cascade of memories. He was assaulted with images, smells and sounds as all his questions were answered in horrifying clarity._

_"No." He gasped. "No. Oh Rassilon, no." And with that his legs gave way and the very impressive Time Lord was reduced to a crumpled heap slumped against the side of the bed. Each wave of memory cut through his hearts and an icy hollowness spread out from his core. He now knew why those memories had been locked away. It had been a reflex, the rare response of a Time Lord experiencing immense trauma. It had been a sliver of kindness in a universe that was far too often, far too cruel - A kindness that was no longer protecting him. He remembered…_

They had been at a booth on Bloagdore, him and Donna, where she impatiently waited for him to find a particular part the Tardis needed for the environmental controls of his sixth greenhouse. All the while Donna was trying to hurry him along by complaining that this was supposed to be _her _shopping trip that _he _had promised her after _he _cocked up the whole moon landing thing. He was not quite successful in turning her out as he sifted through mounds of junk that went up to his waist. He had just spotted the bluish silver part he was looking for when a breeze ruffled his hair and brought him an impossible scent. A scent of honey and home that had graced the halls of the Tardis when she had wandered them and still clung to her pillow on the melancholy days he retreated into her room - for comfort or torture, he was never really sure. "Impossible," he whispered as he looked wildly around in the direction the breeze was coming from.

"What's that?" Donna asked coming up beside him, "You talking to spare parts now is it?" He ignored her, his eyes impossibly wide and frantically scanning for something he knew couldn't exist. Not here, not in this universe, anyway. And yet, if anyone in the multiverse could prove him wrong…

There! Through a break in the crowd he saw her. His brilliant, impossible girl. "Rose," he whispered, not daring to believe what his eyes (and nose) were telling him. She looked radiant, hardly a day older than when he had seen her last. She was wearing a tailored red feminine suit, not usually her style, but he basked in the sight all the same. His eyes caught on the glint of an odd, diamond shaped pendant strung around her neck but were soon pulled up to her lips as she turned them up in a smile. It wasn't quite her patented glowing Rose Tyler smile, it didn't quite reach her eyes, but it was enough to spur his body into motion. He leapt over the pile of spare parts he had been digging through, a feat he distantly felt was rather impressive, and without a missed step or stumble was racing towards her.

Images of fierce hugs, faces pressed into hair to rediscover cherished scents, and finally, oh finally lips meeting in bliss raced through his head as he pushed through the crowd getting closer to everything he ever wanted but thought he would never be able to have. But just as he was drawing closer, she winked at him and took off at a run down the alleyway behind her.

He almost paused at her strange reaction. Why was she running _from_ him? Him! Was she angry that she'd had to be the one to find him? Was she here because of him at all? She had to be, right? She was _his_ Rose wasn't she? His - oh Rassilon, was there another bloke? But when he had looked up, just before, from the junk parts he was searching through, she had been staring right at him. And she had smiled. Whatever it was, whatever her reasons were, she was at least happy to see him. Everything else could be figured out after he had given her a proper hello. One that possibly involved snogging her senseless. The thought was enough to increase his already impressive pace as he tore after her down the alleyway. Distantly, he heard Donna yelling after him. He didn't look back, knowing that Donna would understand when he explained it all to her later.

By the time he entered the alley, which had the unfortunate smell of milk gone off, he just barely caught a glimpse of yellow hair as she turned down another side street at a sprint. He pursued her, marveling at her speed and endurance as she led him through a dizzying maze of twisting alleyways. Finally, when even his superior biology was straining to keep up this breakneck pace, he turned the corner to find her standing breathless in a doorway that marked a dead end of the alley. He stopped short and stared in wonder. Finally, finally, after being separated by white walls and bloody universes, there she was, just a dozen meters away.

"Rose," he reverently puffed out between shaky breaths. She smiled at him again and all the hows and whys faded as his legs figured out how to work once again, bringing him closer a shaky step at a time.

He was just a few meters away when everything went to hell.

The cloth covering of the doorway she was standing in was thrown back and a uniformed man with an eyepatch stepped forward raising a large crystalline knife.

"No! Rose! ROSE! Behind you!" he shouted, time slowing down, air seeming to thicken, impeding his now frantic attempt to reach her, to get to her before the blade did. But from the second the knife was raised, it was already too late.

With a quizzical look Rose turned half-around just in time to see the man plunge the knife deep into her abdomen. She stared at the crystal blade incredulously as the eye-patched man jerked it harshly up her torso in a deep, jagged line and then faded back into the dwelling he came from.

"NOOO!" the Doctor screamed as he covered the last few steps toward her just a second too late. She stumbled into his arms, a cruel mockery of the reunion he always dreamed of. Her knees gave way and he eased her descent to the dusty ground.

"Rose! Oh Rassilon!" was all he could say at first as he looked into the face that had haunted and graced his dreams for the past two years. Swallowing, he gained some composure and attempted a smile. For her. For her he could do anything, even as he felt his world fracturing, "Rose. Look at you. You found me! You're brilliant, you are," he said with a quivering smile, "It's ok now. Don't worry it's all going to be ok. I've got you see," he tightened his grip around her shoulders for emphasis, "You're going to be ok. You are, Rose. Please, hold on. I've got you. I've got you."

He let his gaze dip down to her ruined abdomen where the hand not supporting her lolling head was already pressed to the wound in a futile attempt to stop the torrent of blood. They were both covered in it and a growing pool was soaking into the dusty ground beneath her. A traitorous thought told him it was already too late, but he pushed it back, instead reaching into his suit pocket to fumble for his sonic screwdriver. If he could just get the bleeding to slow, if he could just keep her with him long enough to get to the TARDIS medbay…in his frantic haste the sonic screwdriver slipped from his hand and rolled just out of his reach. He let out a sob and started to reach for it when a strangled sound from Rose brought his focus back to her.

With great difficulty, she finally spoke, her voice both the healing salve and the destruction of his soul, "But…she…I…we had a deal," she said weakly, a trickle of red leaking out of the side of her mouth as she was wracked with a spasm of pain.

"What Rose? What deal? Don't worry. Please don't worry. I'll…I'll fix it," his voice cracked through the futile assurance.

Rose made a gurgling sound that he knew would haunt him through all his regenerations yet to come, coughed a spray of blood into his suit, narrowed her beautiful hazel eyes in anger and whispered, "That bitch." And then Rose Tyler closed her eyes for the last time. He felt her shudder violently in his arms for a few moments and then she was still. A stillness that no living being could achieve.

"No! Oh Rose! Please! Please don't leave me! I can't…You found me. You came all that way. Please! I…I need you," he cried into her hair, bringing a hand sticky with her blood up to caress her unmoving face. Time morphed around him, for once losing all meaning as he buried his head into the stained fabric of her suit.

Despite all attempts to shut out the world, his Time Lord senses were too keen not to register several beings coming towards him from nearby doorways. He looked up into the face of a severe looking lady with an equally severe looking eyepatch. She was flanked on either side by several large men with matching eyepatches and ridiculously oversized guns.

Rose's last words came back to him, _We had a deal…That bitch. _ A fiery rage came over him as he glared at this women with the whole weight of the Oncoming Storm. "You!" he accused. "You did this!" Then in a broken voice, "Why?"

The woman sneered. "Collateral damage, Doctor. You're the prize here. Or at least a means to it."

He gently laid Rose's pallid body to the ground, placed a tear soaked kiss on her forehead and rose to tower over the woman who just ruined his existence. "You didn't have to kill her! She was…she was brilliant and kind and…and _everything_ and you..you just…! You didn't have to do that! You…How dare you!" His grief was pushed back in favor of a white hot rage unlike anything he had ever felt. If he had enough of himself left, it might have frightened him, but as it was, everything he used to be had just bled out on the steps to a small house on a backwater alien planet.

He lunged at the woman, ignoring the gun carrying grunts that stood just behind her. He was an entity of rage, thoughts only for revenge. He got in one good punch that sent the woman's head back with a crack before her guards descended on him. No matter, he could take care of them too. At this close of range, those guns weren't all that useful, and even if they were, how could he care? He lashed out at his attackers, swinging almost blindly at any figure that approached him, tuning into combat skills he didn't know this body possessed. Before he took a breath, half of the guards were unconscious on the ground and he noticed that the woman, so cocky just a moment ago was nervously backing towards the mouth of the alley. She called out words he didn't register as he pursued her with predatory intent and suddenly he was fighting…he couldn't quite see. No, that wasn't right, he could at the time, but now…

A pinprick to the neck was what finally stopped him in his rampage of destruction. As the world around him blurred and then faded he could distantly hear the woman's voice, once again composed, address him, "My, my Time Lord. That's the last time I underestimate you."

_Under the the assault of memory, the Doctor had sunk further down until he was sagged on the floor next to the bed. His face was an empty mask, hollow eyes were fixed on the ceiling seeing nothing but horrifying flashbacks on repeat. Closing his eyes wouldn't help, nor would pushing his palms into his ears until they rang. Whatever he did externally, his mind ended up fixed on Rose's violent last moments; the sounds, sights and smells so vivid he lost himself in them. He hadn't felt agony like this since losing his people in the Time War, and this time there was no pink and yellow human to help him heal. He didn't know what the eye-patched woman had planned for him, and he didn't really care. With luck, she would kill him and end his tortured existence. Retreating even farther into himself, his world narrowed down to the fact that Rose Tyler was dead. And it was somehow because of him. _


	2. Chapter 2

"Everyone thinks that courage is facing death without flinching. But almost anyone can do that. Almost anyone can hold their breath and not scream for as long as it takes to die. True courage is facing life without flinching. I don't mean the times when the right path is hard, but glorious at the end. I'm talking about enduring the boredom, and the messiness, and the inconvenience."

-Robin Hobb

Two Months Earlier

Rose Tyler, Defender of the Earth, the Valiant Child, the girl who had faced a werewolf, battled and befriended scores of aliens, and conquered the devil itself sighed miserably as she looked up at the blackboard that took up the front wall of the stuffy, over-crowded classroom. Surely, surely, those equations her professor was going on about had to, in fact, be some alien language. Surely no human could extract meaning out of that jumble of shapes and numbers. And if it was alien…then she could call Pete back in London, and her old peers at Torchwood would swarm the campus as she fought along side them against the next alien invasion. Her heart sped up at the tantalizing thought.

An exaggerated yawn from a fellow student brought her out of the daze before it could develop into the full-on frenzied daydreaming she had taken to since she'd arrived in this universe. She realized she had been idly picking at the plastic lid of her coffee cup with one hand, her other resting on the black stretch capri pants she had rolled out of bed into this morning. The coffee cup barely fit along side her notebook on the sad excuse of a desk all the dozens of identical chairs were outfitted with. The early September heat of New England was no match for the outdated air cooling system of the university's math and science building. She could almost break a sweat just sitting there. Then again, maybe it was linear algebra that was having that effect on her. She once again cursed the fact that it was a support course for her physics degree. The first midterm was only a few weeks away and Rose was sure she was doomed. Forget bitchy trampolines and farting aliens, that test was going to be truly terrifying. No wonder she had avoided taking her A-levels and continuing on to University in that other life when she was just a shop girl from the Powell Estate - before an impossible man had whisked her away in an impossible police box and showed her what it was like to truly live.

Her insides turned cold as she realized how agonizingly ordinary her life had once again become. When a mad alien took her hand and said "Run" all those years ago she swore she would never again live an average life. But here she was, a student known to her professor only as a number on his grade sheet, surrounded by two hundred other bored kids who were sitting in two hundred identical seats that were probably older than they were.

Since when did Rose Tyler break out into a sweat at anything less than a near death experience? Since when did she fade into the crowd, carry a backpack, study at coffee shops, and help her roommate through boy issues? It may have been the life she had secretly wanted all those years ago, when the fear of success, of being someone and doing something with her life, had kept her from living a life of any consequence. But then again, that Rose Tyler would have thought studying abroad in America to be the greatest of adventures. She had lived what seemed like several lifetimes since then and now she doubted that a truly great adventure was possible stuck on this one planet out of millions, in this one time, instead of joyriding through infinity. (And now her hand was always so empty.) Even the alien invasion she had been fantasizing about just minutes ago would be peanuts to the things she had seen and done. Had her heart rate really just sped up at the thought? Was this "normal" life changing her? Taming her? _Well, at least that would please mum._ She thought smiling miserably to herself.

Her new life was difficult in all the wrong ways and ever so bloody dull. Why she made it worse by things like midterms and finals, and worst of all, linear algebra was beyond her at the moment.

But her doubt was brief. As the professor erased the proofs Rose had failed to copy down and started on a new batch, the painful reason she was "putting herself through this" flooded her thoughts. The reason, all stripes and freckles and gravity defying hair threatened to giver her a case of watery eyes right there in this classroom. She swallowed and pushed thoughts of him away. Well, not away. He was always there, even when she couldn't face the loss, or even thoughts of him, directly. He was the reason she had started working at Torchwood years ago, second being the convenience of her kind-of-father being the head of the organization and her extensive experience with aliens. He was the reason why she had hung around research and development pestering them about finding a way through dimensions. And when the scientists' condescending airs and dumbed down explanations that still went over her head became too much, he was the reason why she left what was as close to home as she could get in this universe to pursue a physics degree in America.

It had been many years since she was stranded in this universe. She had two semesters left until graduation and then she would return to London, no longer a heartbroken child, but an educated woman. She cringed at the thought of the antics and desperation that marked her first few months in this world - the time before she realized that she needed to take back control of her life. When she went back "home" in May, she would be a daughter her parents could live with and a reinstated Torchwood employee who would be able to look the research and development team in the eye, maybe not yet quite at their level, but at least a force to be reckoned with. Then, finally, she could begin the real work. And maybe, if the planets aligned and the stars were in her favor, she could find a way back to him.

But for now, the blackboard was once again full and she was in danger of missing another chunk of notes if she didn't get to copying it down. She sighed, the misery in the action toned down just a little in favor of hope, and went about copying the notes which she would make sense of later. She was two lines in when her pencil broke. _Bloody hell!_


	3. Chapter 3

Rose wearily climbed up the stairs to her flat. It had been a long day, full of classes and studying through any breaks in her schedule. She pulled out the key to her flat, trying not to let it remind her of the one that lay dormant on a chain around her neck. After some skillful jiggling, she got the lock clicked open and shouldered her way through a heavy door that was slightly too big for it's frame.

The flat wasn't a dive. Not exactly. It was better than how some students lived. She had her own room and there was a kitchen-like area, and Kimberly, her roommate, had brought a generously sized telly from home. But it had a dodgy lock, abysmal water pressure, and she couldn't open the fridge and use the microwave at the same time without risking a fuse blowing. And, oh blimey, she had forgotten to call the landlord about the leak in the corner of her room after the last storm.

Her mum certainly didn't approve of her living quarters, having taken to the newfound wealthy lifestyle like she was made for it. In Jackie Tyler's mind, her daughter should be living in the poshest flat in town. Rose laughed at the memory of her mother's lecturing her about her "new station in life," when she first went off to uni three years ago. Despite her mother putting up a good fight, Rose had insisted in paying for rent herself and this was what she could afford. Torchwood was covering the expenses for her education, it was an investment Pete had said, and that was the only help Rose was willing to accept. She had saved up just about enough to cover everything else, food and utilities and the like, from her days at Torchwood and some consulting work she did during school holidays. There was something freeing in being able to take care of herself, at least partly. If she had to live in a place with walls and carpets, she was going to take freedom where she could find it.

"Kimmy?" she announced her arrival as she stepped into the entryway/kitchen/sitting room of her flat.

"Rose! Ohmigod, I'm so glad you're home!" Kimberly burst out of her room all brown curls and large, shining green eyes. Rose noted her face was flushed in excitement and chuckled as she resigned herself for the latest round of gossip. "Guess who invited me to the Halloween party on Thursday!" Kimmy gushed.

"Er," was all Rose managed before Kimberly cut in with the answer.

"Brian! Ohmigod! Can you believe it!? He is practically a man-god and he wants to go with me! Me! Not that bitch Ashley! And we are doing a couples costume and everything! So everyone will know about _us_!"

Rose's smile was genuine with only a touch of humor as she congratulated her roommate, who had become her best mate and reason she hadn't gone barmy while at Uni. "What you two gunna wear then?"

Kimberly's face drained of color, "Oh God! I don't know! I've been so excited and he only just asked me two hours ago. Not even over texting! He called me on my cell like a perfect gentleman!" she squealed excitedly over Brian's overwhelming charm. "But anyway, it's two days away! And it has to be awesome! No, perfect! I want to rub it in Ashely's stupid perfect face!"

"Hey now," Rose said with mock crossness, "play nice. It's not a competition."

Kimberly rolled her eyes at her poor friend's sheltered life. "It is when you're Greek! Come help me figure out a costume," she said prancing back into her room.

Rose sighed and marveled again at how different they were. There must be something to that opposites attract thing. When they had first moved in together after pairing up via the Uni's roommate match program, they had fought like cats and dogs. Rose couldn't believe she was stuck with this preppy barbie and Kimberly had probably been horrified to share space with such a morose "study bug." After a particularly vicious fight a few months in, they had come to an agreement to at least tolerate each other for the rest of the year. Somehow, over time, that agreement morphed into a strange sort of friendship where Rose brought Kimberly back down to earth when she was freaking out about the latest drama and Kimberly dragged Rose to much needed study breaks at the local bar or her sorority house. Three years later and not only were they still roommates, but they now thought of each other as the type of friend who seemed more like family. Life could be strange, even if it was the normal, everyday variety.

"So this Brain," Rose began following Kimberly into her room and plopping down onto the fluffy lavender bedspread, "Is this the bloke with the glasses or the one who always wears collared pastels?"

"Glasses? Yuck! No he's the pastel one. Dreamy right?" she said turning from where she was fixing her hair in the mirror to wiggle her eyebrows at Rose.

"If you say so." Rose laughed, trying not to think of a pair of chocolate brown eyes framed by brainy specs. _Glasses_ _yucky?!_? Rose was almost offended. "So he's very…er…chiseled then? Well how about superman and wonder woman?"

Kimberly gave her a quizzical look. "Who?"

_Bugger. _Rose had forgotten the superheroes were all different in this universe. These slip-ups were getting fewer and farther between as time went on, but they still popped up now and then.

"Is that some crazy British thing?" Kimberly asked distractedly going back to attacking her hair with a straightener.

"Oh, yeah. Must be," Rose took the out, "Ok what about….mad scientists?"

Kimberly grunted.

"Astronauts?"

Kimberly shook her head, "Naw. I don't exactly have a space suit lying around and besides, it wouldn't be very sexy."

"Pirates? Like…I dunno, sexy pirates?"

"Ohmigod!" Kimberly squealed, dropping the straightener on the carpet in her excitement. Rose lunged forward with thoughts of lost security deposits. Once the straightener was safely placed in it's heat-resistant holder Rose received an enthusiastic hug from Kimberly. "Rose you really ARE a genius, and not just because you take all those horribly boring classes! That's perfect! I can wear that green corset I have and Brian can wear one of those v-neck pirate shirt things." She shivered in pleasure at the thought.

"Brilliant." Rose smiled. "Well you better call him and plan then. I have a date with a text book myself and then Tony's calling in a bit."

"Roooossssiiiieee!" Kimberly whined, "Stay and hang out for a bit. You've been such a study bug this year! I hardly ever see you! You haven't even been to one party since school's started!"

"Kimmy, dear, I've always been a study bug and you love me anyway. It's the curse of a physics major," Rose shrugged, "AND we live under the same roof. AND we are suffering through that poetry general ed class together. You see me all the time!" Rose laughed. She didn't say that the reason she had been such a "study bug" this year was that she could feel herself getting closer. Closer to a degree, closer to going back to Torchwood, and she hoped beyond hope she was getting closer to _him_. There were some things a girl just couldn't tell even her best friend. When said girl was an ex-time traveler, born in a different universe, alien expert for a secret British organization, who'd had her heart broken by an alien old enough to be her distant ancestor, there were many things she couldn't tell her best friend. Kimberly didn't even know that Rose was the heiress to the company who made those Vitex drinks everyone drank all the time. From her safe haven in America, Rose was able to hide from even the more normal aspects of her extraordinary life.

"Ugg fine! But you'll come to the party too right? I gotta have my girl there in case Ashley stirs up shit." Kimberly offered a compromise.

"And what, you think _I _could take her? She's got like a foot and half on me and I think she was in the junior Olympics for volleyball or something," Rose snorted. Little did Kimberly know that Rose was more than capable of taking on creatures far more fierce than Ashley. "Besides I have that midterm coming up. I really don't' know about going out on a Thursday…"

"Rosieee!" Kimberly was back to full whine mode, "Pretty please! I'll…I'll even help you with your costume even if you want to go as some dorky scientist. " she screwed up her face in disgust at the unflattering thought.

"We'll see," Rose chuckled backing out of her friend's room, mind already on the proofs from class earlier that day and wondering how the hell they were going to help get her any closer to her own mad scientist who had kept hear heart with him a universe away.


	4. Chapter 4

"_Rose," a voice called to her from behind a white wall. She didn't hear it so much as feel it. The gentle cadence of his voice, full of tragedy and longing permeated her being and spurred another wave of tears down her already mascara stained cheeks. In a desperate attempt to follow the voice she pressed her check, her hand, her whole body against the wall. She willed the universe to be kind. Just this once. To give them at least her forever, the one she had promised him just days ago. "Doctor," She cried hitting the wall until her hand hurt. "My Doctor," she whimpered. Sliding down to a heap on the floor. _

"_Rose," she still heard him. She would always hear him._

"_Rose…" if she could just touch him. Just one more time. _

"_Rose…" if she could just hear him finish that sentence._

"ROSE!" she woke up abruptly and hastily wiped at her eyes as Kimberly barged in her room. Kimmy had never been one to be stopped by things like closed doors.

"It's only 8:00, don't you dare be asleep already you little -" Kimberly stopped abruptly as she took in Rose's tearstained face, "Oh sweetie, again?" She said rushing to Rose's side.

"M'fine. Just a dream." Rose said even though her traitorous eyes were still leaking tears that dripped onto her dark blue comforter. She hadn't had a dream like that in weeks. When she had first been stranded in this universe, every night, or at least the nights she was able to sleep at all, were plagued by nightmares of white walls and fading ghosts. Over the years, Rose's anguish was turned into determination and the dreams occurred less and less often. In some ways, that made them worse when they did come.

"I'm sorry I woke you up. Well, maybe not since it was a nightmare. But anyway, you don't have to come tonight." Rose gave Kimberly a questioning look.

"Go? Tonight?" she sniffed.

Kimberly giggled as she sat down next to Rose and gave her a hug, "The costume party, silly. Remember, me and Brian? Sexy pirates?"

"Oh. Blimey. It's already Thursday then. I think I fell asleep studying..." Kimberly just hugged her harder. It was times like this Rose knew exactly why they were best friends.

After several moments of Rose pulling herself together, Kimberly asked softly, hesitantly, "Who's this Doctor person?"

Rose froze and Kimberly released her from the bear hug sensing her discomfort. "You talk about him - to him, when you have the nightmares…Rose, who is he? What happened to you? You never say - "

Rose buried her head in her hands. She couldn't do this. Three years. She had made it three years as an impostor in this world of frat parties, midterms, and reality TV marathons without anyone catching on that she didn't belong. In a universe that felt more like prison than home, she had somehow grown attached to these stupid mundane rituals, even if they sometimes drove her slightly mad. And now Kimberly was sitting in front of her, hands on Rose's shoulders, waiting for an answer Rose could never give.

"I…" Rose croaked out, "He was…" Brilliant, mad, a little bit foxy, completely impossible to describe, _hers?_

"Oh Rosie. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked. It's just, sometimes I wonder if I know you at all." Rose let out a sob. "Oh god, I'm sorry! It doesn't matter Rose. Listen, screw the party, screw Brian, his jaw is too strong anyway. He'd probably poke my eye out with that chin when we were dancing." Rose sobbed again, but this time it was half a snort of laughter. "Yeah, that's right. Ashley can have 'em. We'll get you cleaned up and watch some telly ok?"

Rose lifted her head and peeked through her fingers at her friend's use of British slang, "Telly?"

"Eh, you're rubbing off on me, ya crazy Brit," Kimberly winked.

Rose took a deep breath and dragged her hands down her face, wiping away the wetness from her checks. "Ah Kimmy, thanks. I mean really, thanks. But…we can't let that bitch Ashley win, yeah?"

"Well, I mean there's always the post-Halloween party tomorrow and she couldn't possibly woo him completely by then and -" Rose cut her off.

"Listen Kimmy. You're my best mate. The fact that you even offered means the world. Really it does. And…and you're right. There were…things that happened a few years ago." She took another deep breath, determined not to cry, "I came here to kind of escape, I guess. Or…or to get back. Maybe both." She stopped realizing she wasn't making sense. "There was a bloke. I…he was…well, everything to me. In all the ways someone could be. And…and I lost him. It just took a second. That's how quick it happens, you know. I was there. I just wanted to touch him, to comfort him, but in the end there wasn't even time for a proper goodbye."

Now Kimberly's eyes were the ones welling up, assuming the worst from the incomplete truth Rose was abel to share. "Oh Rosie. I always knew. I mean, I've practically never seen you cry like this, but there was always something about you that was just so…sad. I'm so sorry. God, all those guys I tried to set you up with! No wonder you weren't interested. And I kept making fun of you for it! Why don't you hate me!?"

"C'mere ya daft Yank," Rose pulled Kimberly back into a hug, "You didn't know, alright? And I could never hate you. Sisters from another mother, yeah?" Rose used the phrase Kimmy often said about the two of them.

"Yeah." Kimberly agreed giggling at Rose's use of the stollen phrase.

"Oh and one more thing," Rose gave her a conspiratorial look, "Don't you dare tell anyone, but I'm kind of rich. Well, my step-dad is, but yeah. Like god-awfully, horrendously, filthy stinkin' rich."

"What!?" Kimberly shrieked pulling out of the hug, "You're kidding! And all this time we've been shopping at thrift stores for clothes and clipping coupons so we can afford to eat AND buy makeup!?"

Rose laughed, "I told you, it's my step-dad who's really the rich one. But yeah, my family, we're kind of a big deal back across the pond. In the tabloids and everything."

Kimberly blanched, "Don't tell me you're descended from royalty or something!" Thought there wasn't any official royalty in this universe's UK, the descendants of the royal family were still a frequent source of gossip and intrigue.

"Naw. My step dad invented these," Rose picked up the half-empty Vitex drink on her bedside table.

Kimberly's eyes grew even wider, "You're kidding! Vitex!? My god! You _are_ horrendously, _disgustingly_ rich! And in the Tabloids!? Ohmigod! When I come visit you this summer after graduation, will I be in the tabloids too?"

"Could be," Rose laughed. Knowing Kimberly, she really could give the rags a story worth writing about.

Kimberly squealed in excitement. "But…but why haven't I heard of you then? If you're some kind of famous heiress?" Rose knew that Kimberly made it her business to know the who's who and what's what, at least in the States. Hopefully she wouldn't take this as an affront to her pop culture prowess.

Rose shrugged, "Tabloids are a bit more intense where I come from. If you have money, they're interested. You don't have to actually do anything all that impressive or interesting. A lot of the fuss doesn't make it over here, thank god!"

Kimberly had rocked back to sit on her heals and was staring at Rose completely slack jawed.

"Kimmy?" Rose giggled, "You ok?"

Her friend seemed to come back to herself, "Yeah. Wow. Yeah. Wait! Oh God! I met your dad when he visited last year! And I was in sweatpants! Oh god!" She went back to staring this time at a point on the wall over Rose's left shoulder with her mouth an open fly trap.

"Step-dad," Rose corrected, "I doubt he would notice or care. Mum's always in track suits around the house and I think you've noticed my extensive collection of lounge wear. Not so much is different for them, just less stress over money, I guess. And Mum is happier...lighter." Rose smiled thinking of her mum finally getting all the happiness she deserved. Rose just hoped that her time would come someday too.

They contemplated the revelations for a few moments of companionable silence before Rose continued with a wink, "So anyway, now you know all my dirty little secrets." _Well at least the tip of the iceberg _she added to herself.

"Damn Rose! Way to upstage my date with Brian!" Kimberly said finally relaxing and throwing a pillow at Rose's face. Rose laughed as she easily swatted the pillow away, thankful that Kimberly had stopped looking at her like she was the bloody Queen - er rather President. (How does she always forget that there is no Queen or Prime Minister in this universe despite meeting the Lady President several times?) And more than thankful that the fact that her slight celebrity status back home had dramatically overshadowed any talk of _him_.

"So movie night then?" Kimberly asked in voice that was far too casual.

"Don't be daft!" Rose said throwing the pillow back at Kimberly who was not as successful at avoiding the light blow. The loud pulsing music and flashing lights of a party sounded like just the type of distraction Rose was in the mood for. Just for tonight. Just in those times when she thought being alone with her thoughts might break her, "I told you we can't let that bitch Ashley win. We, my dear Kimmy, are getting dressed up in slutty costumes and going to a party!"

Kimberly let out a whoop. "But on the way," Rose held up a finger, "we're stopping for coffee. No way I'm staying awake past ten unless I get some expresso in me."

Kimberly just whooped again in response, jumped on the bed a few times and then sashayed out of the room to finish getting ready. Rose heard her call from the hallway, "Hurry up then, Your Heiress. Want to be fashionably late, not miss the whole damn thing!"

Rose groaned at what was probably her new nickname. But then again, she had been called far worse, usually in languages no one on earth had ever heard before.

She pushed herself out of bed and headed to her closet in search of something appropriately skimpy. With luck and some help from her friends, she would get through another day.


	5. Chapter 5

The weeks passed by and Autumn took a firmer grip on New England. The trees that lined Rose's walk to class looked like they were on fire with their red and orange leaves. Rose had come to enjoy this place at this time of year, despite her reluctance to let herself fully get attached to anything. The crisp mornings helped her wake up after late nights of studying and brought pink to her otherwise pale checks. Although, even without the chill, she hadn't been so pale lately. She'd been eating more, gaining back some of the weight she had lost and taking better care of herself. Late nights of studying, aside.

Letting Kimberly in on a little more of who she was had done wonders to lift some of the weight off her heart. The lovably histrionic girl had kept her word and guarded Rose's secret just as closely as Rose did. Rose rolled her eyes at each "your heiress" Kimberly giggled at her, but found herself sharing more about that aspect of her life with her friend. It had her wishing she could tell Kimberly everything. Rose took a sip of her tea and continued on her trek smiling to herself at the thought of Kimberly's face if Rose told her about the alien, time traveling, Defender of the Earth bits.

"Now there's something the world doesn't see enough. Rose Tyler's smile." Rose was torn from her musings as a cocky face winked at her from where he was sitting on one of the benches that lined the path.

"Hey Ashton," she said rolling her eyes and continuing on at her steady pace. Ashton was a guy from Brian's frat who had taken to hanging out with Kimberly, Brian and Rose when they went out. His attentions were not unnoticed but definitely unwelcome. She wasn't sure if he was too thick to get the hint that she wasn't interested or cocky enough to ignore her thoughts on the matter.

"What? That's it? 'Hey Ashton?'" Rose heard him shuffle to his feat and run to catch up with her. "You really are beautiful, you know. Especially when you smile."

"Er, thanks," Rose was more than exasperated with his overtness. What ever happened to subtly wooing a girl? She'd never experienced such wooing back on the Estate, but there were books and plenty of movies featuring the concept so it had to happen occasionally, right?

Ashton grabbed her arm, stopping her and swinging her around to face him. "Oh c'mon Rosie! Just -"

"Don't!" Rose was suddenly far beyond exasperated, "Don't call me Rosie." She took a breath, readying herself to put an end to his infatuation once and for all when her mobile rang.

Ashton started to protest but she just held her hand up and clicked the call through, "Hello?"

"Hey Rose, this is Brittany Fells, I'm in Kimberly's sorority?" the pitch of her voice made it a question.

"Oh yeah! Hey Brittany," Rose mouthed _gotta go _to Ashton and resumed her walk to class. "What's up?"

"Sorry, just looked like Ashton was being an ass and I thought you might need an out."

Rose laughed and look around for her rescuer. (Not that Rose needed rescuing. In the time it took the prat to grab her arm and spin her around, she had already thought of seven ways to break the offending limb if the need arose.) "Yeah, god, perfect timing! Where are you?"

"In the library. Don't tell the girls, but I actually do pull all-nighters studying sometimes."

Rose laughed and waved in the general direction of the library's many windows that overlooked the walkway. "Well thanks. And I promise, your secret is safe with me."

"Also, while I have you, the girls and I are throwing a surprise birthday party for Kimmy this weekend. It's Saturday and you'll come right? I got your number from Jessica and was going to call you anyway…"

"Yeah, course I'll be there. Can I help with anything?" Rose asked. It was obvious "the girls" had forgotten about her until the last minute, but she couldn't blame them too much since she was the only non-greek they hung out with. Though she wasn't as close with any of "the girls" as she was with Kimberly, they were nice enough and even fun sometimes. She supposed they felt similarly towards her.

"Oh! I dunno! Hallie's kind of in charge, of course. I'll ask her later today and get back to you. But I'm so glad you can come! We're all meeting at the Cappa house at nine and Brian is bringing Kimmy over at nine thirty." Brittany squealed and Rose had to tilt the phone away from her ear. "I'm just so excited! She's going to love it! And Brian told Jeffrey who told Hallie, because they're together you know, that he's going to make it official and ask her to be his girlfriend after cake! Can you believe it? So romantic, right!?"

"Definitely," Rose agreed, "Anyway I'm 'bout at my class. But thanks for the invite."

"Sure thing girl! I'll call ya later about the preparations and I'll see ya Saturday!"

Rose ended the call, turned her phone on silent and headed into the building for her early morning class in theoretical physics.

The party was in full swing and Rose was losing an inner struggle to enjoy it. Sometimes, nights like this were just the thing she needed, and sometimes it just made her claustrophobic and melancholy. She leaned against the beer-stained counter and watched the dancing masses that populated the house's largest room. Kimberly was somewhere in there, dancing with Brian and maybe even falling in love. The thought made her both happy and miserable.

Her thoughts drifted to a different dance, of awkward steps and breathless spins around the console of a spaceship and suddenly the steamy room, smell of stale beer and pounding noise blaring from the speakers was too much. She had done the surprise thing hours earlier and Kimmy certainly wouldn't miss her now. She wandered through the familiar sorority house until she reached the front door. But just as she was about to step out she caught the inebriated laugh of a drunk Ashton. "Rose Tyler!" he sang at her as he walked up to the house carrying an open bottle of some kind of liquor.

_Oh bugger, not now._ She darted back inside, disappeared into the crowd, and wove through the different rooms, seeking relief from the commotion and her pursuer. She found herself upstairs, away from most of the chaos, and slipped into a room that wasn't currently occupied. She used to be Rose Tyler, befriender AND destroyer of Daleks, but here she was hiding from a stupid human twit. She sank down on one of the beds in the large, dorm-like bedroom and buried her head in her hands.

It wasn't just insufferable frat boys and techno music that was getting to her though. The past few days had been strange and disconcerting. And not in a fun, exciting way. It had started with strange sensations, a prickling up her spine, or walking into a room and forgetting why she was there too many times for it to be considered normal. Then she started seeing things out of the corner of her eye. Or at least she thought she did. She would turn, heart racing in full defensive stance to find an empty room. As she was hurrying to the party earlier that night, the eerie feeling had come over her again. She almost brushed it off, but then she heard a voice almost too deep to be a woman's whisper, "Not just yet."

Something was going on. She should call Da - er - Pete. No, she should have _already _called Pete. But she was afraid of sounding daft calling in to report…a strange feeling. Now she had something else, though. She had a voice. It was still awfully thin to go on, but she'd learned years ago to trust her gut and she knew Pete would take her seriously. A little assistance from her old colleagues seemed a comforting prospect at the moment.

Rose didn't scare easily. After all, waking from the nightmares that plagued her sleep with increasing frequently lately brought her no relief. The Doctor was gone regardless of her state of consciousness, and that trumped any of the usual things she could be afraid of. But right now, she thought she might just be a bit unnerved. She was used to aliens attacking her and shooting at her and throwing her in prison from her adventures with the Doctor and work with Torchwood, but what was happening now was far less overt and seemed much more sinister for that reason.

As if on queue, that chilling feeling crept over her and the hairs stood up on the back of her neck. She jumped off the bed and whirled around to face a truly horrifying creature. No, not just a horrifying creature she realized all at once. It was the _same_ horrifying creature that had been stalking her for days. Why hadn't she remembered until now?! She didn't have a chance to ponder.

The creature rose up even taller than it's already impressive height as electricity crackled around it's hands. Rose backed up reaching for her mobile but was stopped when two other identical creatures grabbed her by the arms from behind. Where did they come from!? How had she missed them when she entered the room? She screamed in frustration and geared up for a defensive move when…

"Hello Miss Tyler," the deep voice from earlier came this time from a shape that was approaching from the shadowed corner of the large room. As the shape stepped into a beam from the streetlight outside the otherwise dark room, Rose saw that she was a stern looking woman with a creepy eye-patch adorning one eye. "I've been waiting a very long time to meet you."

Rose was momentarily frozen until her brain, and Torchwood training, kicked into gear. In a sharp move, she dug her elbow into the creature to her left's gut and spun out of it's grip as it doubled over. A well placed knee freed her from the other creature. Breathing hard, she rounded on the woman, "What the hell do you think you're doing!?" she stormed, "Stalking me like some creep. Time was when an alien would have the dignity to attack you face to face!"

"Yes, well, Miss Tyler, I operate a bit differently than some of my peers. And who's to say I'm any more alien than you - girl from another world?" The woman sneered, seeming unconcerned that Rose had just taken out her bodyguards and was approaching her with adrenaline fueled fury.

"Well if you think you can just -" Rose's words were cut off as the shadows seemed to erupt with several more of the creatures she had just fought off. The air was thick with electricity as they lit up their arms with bolts and glowing orbs of the stuff. The fine hair on Rose's arms was standing straight up like it did during electrical storms, and she was sure she would get a nasty shock if she touched anything conductive.

"Miss Tyler, I would like you to meet my colleagues, the Silence. My friends have many skills, one of them being control over electricity." With that, one of the creatures, a Silence, let a bolt down into the floor bellow and the music abruptly shut off. A few other Silence raised there hands and the lights of the whole building flickered; the strobe effect hurt Rose's eyes after the darkness of the bedroom.

"Do you know what millions of volts of electricity can do to a house full of humans, Miss Tyler? Do you want to find out?" The closest Silence's hands began to glow, the snapping bolts coalescing to form large balls of electricity at the woman's threat.

"Stop!" Rose yelled over the crackling, "Just stop. I'll do what you want, just leave them alone. They're just humans. Kids even. They've no part in this."

The woman's smug grin widened. "I thought we would come to an agreement. Come on Miss Tyler, we're going to take a little trip."

The woman moved towards Rose who stood her ground with her shoulders back and head up. She would not cower. The woman fished through her pockets and pulled out an eye patch resembling her own and pushed it onto Rose's right eye roughly. "This will make things easier, I think. Now let's go." Rose braced herself to be teleported or something and was shocked when the woman just moved towards the door to the room.

"Well come on then. Or should I give my friends here a hunting license. They're hungry, you know."

Rose didn't stop to ponder how creatures with no apparent mouth could feed off of her friends. "No. I'm…I'm coming." Rose followed the woman and was flanked by several of the Silence. Her thoughts were racing. She was being kidnapped. Again. And worse, she was about to walk into the heart of a raging party while being escorted by some seriously freaky looking aliens. Even the best case scenarios running through her head weren't good.

The crowd had grown restless below them with their source of music having shorted out. All the lights in the house were on. _All the better to see us with_ Rose thought glumly. The first screams started as her band of kidnappers descended the stairs. Some of the Silence drifted from behind her to weave through the crowd. She realized that they were herding the partygoers out of the way. Rose fiercely hoped that Kimberly had already left with Brian. It was unusual that they could make it very long into a party before they sought out a more private setting.

Rose had followed her captors through the many rooms of the house and was almost to the door when she heard what she had been dreading.

"Rose!" It was Kimberly's panicked voice. Rose turned around quickly. It was important that she get through this before anyone got hurt.

"Kimmy," Rose said finding her friend in a crowd from where Brian was holding her back from running to Rose, "Get out of here ok? I'm fine. It's going to be fine." Damn her voice from wavering slightly. The pressure of all the civilians in danger was getting to her. "Just get out, ok?"

"Rose, what's going on?" Kimmy yelled in a voice filled with, for once, fully justified panic.

Rose looked towards the woman with the eye patch who nodded, allowing her at least this. "Listen Kimmy, there's a bit more that you don't know about me."

"More than Vitex?" Kimmy asked, forgetting that it was supposed to be a secret. Rose supposed now it didn't really matter. Nothing like a horde of aliens to out all of her secrets.

Rose chuckled despite the situation, "Yes, more than Vitex. Listen, I don't have time to tell you everything, but before I came here I was…I guess you could call it special ops? With aliens. That's what my scholarship was from. Anyway the paparazzi may not have followed me over here, but I guess these guys did." Rose jerked her head at the suited creatures fanned out behind her. She could tell they were getting restless by the increase in electricity in the air.

The incredulous look she had expected from Kimberly never came. Rose guessed that the presence of a room full of aliens led credence to the rather outlandish claims. Distantly Rose realized the whole house was silent except for their exchange and the occasional crackle of electricity. These poor kids were probably going to be traumatized by this. She hoped the university's mental health center was up for a slew of new customers.

"But, but they're going to hurt you." Kimberly whimpered.

"I'll be fine, yeah? These guys don't know who they're messing with. You know that bloke? The one I told you about who I lost? Well he was an alien, the most brilliant one in the universe. I learned a lot from him. Which means I learned from the very best. And you know what, after I ditch these freaks, I'm going to come back here and I'm going to finish my degree despite you dragging me off to coffee and parties and then I'm going to go find him. Because he's out there. I lost him, but I'll find him again. I'll..I'll fight. You…you tell my mum and dad that yeah? You know…just in case…" Rose chocked on the last words and was surprised to find her eyes brimming with tears. Something about this seemed so final. No matter what she told Kimmy, something about this seemed like goodbye.

"Rose!" Kimberly sobbed. At a gesture from the woman with the eyepatch the silence standing behind her prodded Rose forward and she knew her time was up.

"It's ok Kimmy," Rose hurried to assure her friend, though her voice was tight with emotion, "It'll be ok. I'll see ya around. And…thank you. For everything."

And then Rose was through the door into the chilly autumn night.


	6. Chapter 6

"You're kidding me! What kind of nefarious kidnaping bad guys have to take the bus!?" Rose asked with an incredulous laugh. She was starting to feel better about the situation and her chances of doing a little self-rescuing. In fact, she was almost a little offended that this lady thought anyone could cart away Rose Marion Tyler on bloody public transit. They were well away from any potential casualties and with that freedom, Rose was feeling downright cocky. And amused. Here they were, her once frightening kidnappers, waiting at a bus stop on the outskirts of a preppy New England Uni. Rose let out one last snort of laughter before the woman responded.

"Our usual mode of transit isn't compatible with this universe," the woman sneered in distaste at the last word.

"Oi! It's not all that ba -" Rose's eyes went wide and she was distracted from defending the place she still called "Pete's World" as the woman's words sunk in, "Universe? You're from another universe? But, but that's impossible. He said - it should be impossible."

From behind a tall shrub a chipper voice responded, "Oh and you were born here, were you?" Rose's stomach dropped to her toes, possibly even a few feet below that. If nothing else from this crazy day, that voice, that heartbreakingly familiar voice, was what sealed the deal that all this was just a strange dream. Because that was the only way she could be hearing it. Right?

Rose whirled toward the clump of bushes the sound came from, willing her eyes to pierce farther into the darkness, "Doc-" she swallowed to clear her throat, "Doctor?"

And then, there he was, stepping out from behind a clump of bushes as if it was the most natural thing in the world. In an instant Rose took in his familiar face - the gravity defying hair no amount of gel in the universe could tame, his relaxed smile - he was the Time Lord she'd dreamed about with aching longing for years. And the dreams were nothing to him standing so real right in front of her. Because when he was so close, it meant she could be touching him in mere moments - taking in his unique smell in a reuniting embrace and finally feeling his hand twine to fill the empty space in her own. Rose let out a sound that might have been a sob or a laugh or perhaps a little of both. Before she could worry about why he was here and what the hell he was doing wearing one of those freaky eyepatches, before she could do much thinking at all past taking in the sight of him, she had shrugged off the pair of Silence who had held her and was running towards him, covering the few meters between them faster than she thought her legs could carry her. The details of the how and why would come later. Right now nothing mattered except destroying the last lingering space between them. With a smile so wide it nearly hurt, she flung herself at him once she was close enough…only to be blocked from embracing him by a stiff arm to her gut. His arm.

"Pfft!" The wind was knocked out of her and she stumbled back, clutching where he had pushed her forcefully back.

"Doctor? What-" she was trying to catch her breath and make sense of why the most important person in her existence appeared to be anything but happy to see her.

"Well I wouldn't have had to hurt you if you hadn't flung yourself at me like a fangirl," he sniffed harshly and smoothed the wrinkles from his suit. He hadn't spoken to her in that tone since she brought the reapers on them. _Stupid ape. _Rose shook her head, clearing it of the the memory of the Northern-accented slur. Her first Doctor had apologized for that afterwards, said he'd never really meant it. Surely it was the same this time. This was part some mad plan of his. It had to be. But then his eyes…there was something in his eyes that scared her, that made her believe this time he really did mean it, that he really did _mean_ to hurt her. Or worse, that he was simply indifferent.

"But. Doctor. I -" she couldn't think of single thing to say in the midst of her whirling thoughts. Hurt even worse than goodbyes on a beach making her throat swell painfully and her eyes water. She barely had the presence of mind to fight it.

"Here, take this, " he stepped up to her and slung a strange looking necklace over her head. "Don't' get any romantic ideas, it's just so no one will recognize you. Once Torchwood gets wind of this, they'll start a search for sure. Director's pet and all that. Don't need any complications, now do we?"

Rose adjusted the necklace numbly and finally found her voice."But - But, aren't you happy to see me?" she chocked out.

The Doctor smiled at her, but it was a cruel one, closer to Asher's cocky grin than the warm smile she remembered, "Happy to see you?" he barked a laugh, "Rose Tyler, waiting around for me to rescue you, as usual. Do you think I like being the one always having to do all the work? The knight in white armor thing can be entertaining sure, but gods Rose, it does get old."

"Doing nothing?" Rose felt the first embers of anger lighting inside her, "Doing nothing?! All I've done since I've been in this bloody universe was try to get back to you! How dare you, you arrogant arse! And all this time I thought you were worth it. I thought you…" Rose trailed off.

"What? You thought I looooved you?" he exaggerated the word and fluttered his eyelashes mockingly, "Rose, your whole existence is a blink of my eye. I had pets back on my home planet that I cared for more than you. They were smarter too, now that I think of it," Rose swore she heard him mutter "bloody shop girl" under his breath before he continued, "You're an amusement. A increasingly dull and exasperating amusement who never puts out, but at least we know our place now, yes?"

Rose opened her mouth only to shut it again. The burning anger from moments before was now drowned by the tears falling down her face. In a few short sentences he had shattered her most treasured dreams and highlighted her greatest insecurities. Know her place, indeed. When she spoke, her voice was small and broken, only a hint of resolve left, "Don't…Don't talk to me like that."

The Doctor just snorted before turning to address the eye-patched woman. "Madame Kavorian, is this bloody bus coming or what? I agreed to help you with her," he jerked his head in Rose's direction, "but if we don't get on with it, I think my price may just have to go up. Better things to do. My services are in high demand, you know."

The woman rolled her visible eye and Rose shrunk into herself now that his attention wasn't directly focused on her, "In a minute Doctor. Some patience wouldn't kill you. And we both know I'm paying you plenty as it is."

"Well, you can call your freaks off at least, I'll handle her from here," he said, again motioning towards Rose.

"Not fond of my colleges Doctor?" The woman asked with an amused tilt to her voice.

To her surprise, Rose saw the Doctor visibly shiver, something he tried to hide behind a sneer, "Surprised you _are_ fond of them, really."

"Very well. We'll move faster without them anyway. They can cause quite a stir among the locals." She nodded her head and the Silence shrank back into the shadows.

"Doctor -" Rose began, but the Doctor cut her off.

"Ah, here we are. Bus is coming right up. Here's the deal, Rosie-Posey. You're going to shut up. You're going to listen to every word I say very carefully and act accordingly. You're going to get onto this bus without a fuss and you are going to keep that necklace on until we get back through the rift." Rose could only nod. She wasn't sure if she was numb or hurting so bad that pain had lost all meaning, "Alright then, let's go."

The woman he had addressed as Madam Kavorian boarded first, followed by Rose and then the Doctor who prodded her roughly in the back to hurry her to a seat.


	7. Chapter 7

Rose was furious. She supposed there were several candidates for her anger right now, but the person she was most livid with was herself. The man sitting across the aisle from her staring glumly out the window was not _her_ Doctor. She didn't know how she didn't realize this instantly, or at least as soon as he had pushed her away so roughly. She had been so wrapped up in the shock of seeing him and the hurt at how he acted towards her, she had missed countless clues that this bloke was just an impostor. His suit was wrong, plain, not pinstriped and he wore shiny black shoes that definitely did not look comfortable enough for running. Though his voice did sound the same, it didn't' have the right cadence, the right inflection. And when he failed to react to the bus driver introducing himself to the late night riders as Alonso, that had really been the kicker. The proper Doctor would have never missed that opportunity.

For the past few minutes, Rose had been studying this man to figure out what exactly was going on. Was it her Doctor possessed? Drugged? This universe's evil doppelgänger version? Finally, as he changed position, Rose caught a glimpse of a diamond shaped pendant between his many layers of clothes. It was just like the one around her own neck. A perception filter. That settled it. This old bat and not-Doctor no longer had any hold on her. Now that she wasn't emotionally overwhelmed or worried about electrocuted bystanders, Rose Tyler was ready to get the hell out of here.

The bus slowed a few stops later and Rose made her move. She leapt out of her seat and got half way to the front of the bus before the impostor grabbed her upper arm.

She spun, ignoring his angry, "ROSE!" and took far too much pleasure in kicking him hard between the legs. He let our an amusingly high pitched yelp and crumpled. In one swift motion, Rose grabbed at the cord around his neck and pulled it roughly off of him. "Let's see who you really are then mate," she said giddy with triumph. The Doctor's image flickered for a second before it was replaced by a roughly humanoid looking alien. Rose scrunched her nose at the mucus dripping from the orange scales and onto the now, ill-fitting clothes that bagged around a skeletal frame. "Can't blame you for wanting another face then," she quipped before ripping off her own necklace. "'Ere ya go. Now you have a pair. But don't' get any romantic ideas." Rose winked a she flung the words and necklace back at the oozing alien and tore off towards the front of the bus. As she dashed out the exit, she glanced back, pleased to see several of the buss's tired occupants rising to block her pursuers as they struggled after her. She made brief eye contact with a wide-eyed Alonso.

"You run honey," he nodded at her. And with that he closed the doors and sped off.

Rose ripped they eyepatch off, and stomped it into the ground. She felt a wave of dizziness, but it passed quickly. The eyepatch was probably some kind of tracking device, mind control or some other bit of technology she was happy to leave behind her. Rid of that sartorial disaster, she set off at an easy run back towards campus, already forming the report in her head that she was going to send Pete. Though still shaken at being temporarily captured and seeing the false version of her Doctor, a ghost of a smile flickered across her face. _Oh yeah, she still got it. No domesticating Rose Tyler. _And then there had been all the talk of other universes. It sounded a lot like hope to her.

A few blocks later, that spine tingling feeling came over Rose again. This time, she never saw her attackers, just a flash of blue light, a wave of agony, and then darkness.

Nine hours later, Pete Tyler stood in front of a room full of top-ranking Torchwood operatives and played a video from an American bus's security camera on the large screen. He narrated, having already gone over the footage several times in his office.

"At 2:17 AM, Easter Standard Time, three individuals boarded bus number two on the blue line. One of them appeared to be an old friend of Rose's, known as The Doctor," at that a low murmuring permeated the the room, but Pete continued on, "The other two individuals were seemingly unknown to Torchwood." He fast-forwarded through a few minutes of the video, "The younger woman initiated a scuffle several stops later…" he let the scene play out, "and after she removed objects from around her and The Doctor's neck, we see that their identities had previously been masked by some sort of perception filter or body modifier. The Doctor was, in fact, a Glasgorg alien, known as being a race of bounty hunters, and the woman was Agent Tyler. We are still working on identifying the older woman who was with them, but she too may have had her true identity obscured." He paused the video after Rose leapt off the bus and shut off the film.

"Agent Tyler has not been seen since. Efforts to trace her mobile led us to where it was abandoned in some bushes just outside the university's campus, and her roommate reported her being taken from a large house party shortly before the timestamp on the footage I just showed you. Field agents in the area have already searched the campus and surrounding town as well as questioned dozens of witnesses. There were 231 people at that party not including Agent Tyler and not a single one of them can remember exactly what happened. We are likely dealing with something that can alter memories or perceptions, either naturally or with specialized technology - I've included a list of known species that fit the bill on page three of the report that was handed out. Finally, there were several sharp spikes of electrical activity in the area, particularly centered around the location of the party at the time of Agent Tyler's abduction and again twenty minutes later where her mobile was recovered. All appliances in the house were fried and there were -," Pete took a breath in an effort to keep his voice more Director of Torchwood and less worried father, "there were scorch marks and bloodstains near Rose's mobile. We're having them analyzed now, but we're working under the assumption that Agent Tyler is injured, perhaps gravely. That is all we know at the moment. We are treating this as a kidnapping and I want Agent Tyler's retrieval to become everyone's top priority. She may be on leave, but she is still one of our own. I don't have to tell you this goes beyond business for many of us," he locked eyes briefly with Jake and Mickey, "I'll be in my office with my wife going through witness testimony. Contact me immediately with any new developments. Now get to work."

Pete was pleased, though not surprised to see an immediate shuffle of activity as he concluded the meeting. His employees were used to taking in and acting on information quickly. He stuck around for a few minutes answering questions before heading upstairs as the crowd in the room thinned out. He paused outside of the door to his office, wishing he had some good news to offer his wife. Rose was more than capable and had gotten herself out of situations that had looked much worse than this, but he knew none of that mattered to Jackie right now. Whenever Rose or he were caught up in something big enough for Jackie to know about it, she all but went to pieces. All of this happening so far away was making it all the more difficult on her.

He opened the door quietly, in case she was sleeping, but of course, she wasn't. Tired, red-rimmed eyes looked up at him from his office chair expectantly.

"We won't know anything more for a while, Jacks. You should go back home with Tony and get some rest. Rose is tough. She'll be fine," he offered in a calm voice that didn't betray his own concern for his step-daughter.

"Oh shove it," Pete was sure she would be glaring at him if she wasn't so upset, "Tony's fine with Claire. It's my little girl I'm worried about right now. I want to be here in case you find anything, in case you find her and she needs me."

Pete sighed, opting to forgo pointing out that even if Rose was found, Jackie was still a continent away. Instead he circled his desk to take his wife's hand, "We'll find her Jacks. I promise."

She snorted, fresh tears leaking down her cheeks, "You don't know that Pete. You can't. I was so happy that she was off at Uni. Missed her, of course, but thought she was safer away from bloody Torchwood and bloody aliens."

"Jacks," Pete began, but she continued over him, now staring numbly at her mobile on his desk.

"I just got off the phone with Kimmy. She's a right mess. Said she didn't remember exactly what happened but she knows Rose didn't leave of her own free will. She said - she said that Rose got a few words in before she was pulled away. Said that Rose told her she would be ok, that she would fight. But then Kimmy - she said that it felt more like goodbye." Jackie pulled his hand up to her face, soaking his sleeve with her tears. He knelt down and took her into his arms despite the awkward angle whispering reassuring words he wasn't sure he believed.


	8. Chapter 8

Rose woke facedown on a roughly textured, but cushioned surface drowsy and confused. She had a vague sense of someone moving about the room and a discordant beeping that shot straight through her addled brain. Her eyes fluttered open, only to squeeze shut as they were assaulted by harsh bright light that seemed to come from everywhere at once. Everything was far too sharp on her senses and it took her several moments before she could think of anything but wading the tide of overwhelming sensation. One of the first concrete things she noticed was the oxygen mask tickling her face with puffs of cool, dry air. She reached up to bat it aside and cried out as searing pain spread over her shoulders and upper back.

"Oh! Miss, you're awake!," a kind sounding voice came from somewhere Rose couldn't pinpoint through the blinding pain, "Don't move, you're still healing. Right nasty burn you've got there. Madame Kovarian was furious! Called the guards down on the Silence who did that to ya once she figured out which one of 'em it was. Said this mess was going to stall the whole operation."

The voice came closer as she spoke, until Rose was squinting at the blurry outline of a girl who looked far too young to be any kind of medic. The words washed over her as Rose fought to grasp their meaning out of the haze she was in. But she was tired, so tired, and her back hurt abominably. Burned the girl had said? Rose felt like she was still on fire, actively burning. The girl bent down under the guise of checking Rose's eyes with a small flashlight and whispered, "And you know what? I'm angry too. No reason to hurt you like that. It's bad enough how they're using you like this. I'm - I'm sorry miss. I wish there was something I could do. But don't tell them I said any of that. They'll send the guards on me and I can't loose my place here just yet." The girl stood back up chuckling nervously. Rose tried to speak, but only a soft groan came out.

"I'm going to give you something for the pain. We're already speeding up the healing process quite considerably. You shouldn't even scar when it's all done, but no reason you have to be in misery in the meantime. You rest now miss. And try not to worry," the girl fiddled with something out of Rose's line of vision and Rose felt both her pain and awareness fading moments later. A hand slipped into hers, "I'm Lorna, Miss, Lorna Bucket. If I'm not here when you wake up and you need anything, just ask for me." Rose squeezed her hand in acknowledgment and slipped back into the comfort of oblivion.

The next time Rose awoke, she was still in the harshly lit room, but she was laying on her back and the oxygen mask had been replaced with a smaller, two pronged tube that sat tickling the inside of her nose. She took a few deep breaths of the cool air being pumped through her nose and felt her mind begin to clear. She gingerly turned her head, vaguely remembering intense pain last time she had tried to move. When she found that small movement painful, but tolerable, she slowly brought herself up to rest on her elbows and took in her surroundings.

The room was smaller than she had initially thought, with stark white walls contributing to the brightness that made her eyes water. There were some vaguely medical looking machines crowded around her bed, but the room was otherwise fairly sparse. The dreadful beeping from earlier had thankfully ceased.

"Blimey," Rose murmured in a voice scratchy with disuse, "And I thought the Torchwood infirmary was bleak." Her words echoed slightly in the empty room.

Now that she had gotten her bearings, Rose went about inspecting herself. If she was going to escape, she wanted to know exactly what she was working with. She stretched and flexed her muscles, noting they felt stiff, but no horrendously so. She couldn't have been out for long. She reached behind her to prod gingerly at her back, expecting to find charged skin or angry scaring at the very least. Instead she brushed across lightly blistered skin that hurt only slightly more than a bad sunburn. Well that was good at least.

Giving herself a clean bill of health, or close enough, Rose ripped off the oxygen tube and swung her legs over the bed. After only a brief spell of dizziness, the world fell back into place and she eased herself into a standing position. She adjusted the loose-fitting hospital outfit and was grateful that it was at least a set of shirt and trousers and not the tie back, bum hanging out variety. That settled, she immediately took a quick inventory of the few items in the room, pocketing anything that looked remotely useful. Satisfied after only a few minutes of poking around, she ventured the short distance to the slightly receded space in the white wall she figured would be the door.

She reached out, looking for some sort of handle or button, but before she could touch anything, the door hissed open revealing a large man with a small gun. The size of it wasn't so important as Rose was sure it could do quite enough damage aimed at her head like it was. "Oi! What you doin' out of bed? You're not meant to be wonderin' 'round here. Back up then. That's right missy, no need to -"

His orders were cut short as Rose whipped out with her left arm, knocking the gun to the side. In a panic, the guard squeezed the trigger and there was a blast that reverberated through the room and left a small crater in the floor. "So much for stealth," Rose murmured as she swung her right arm around to clock the man across the jaw, both parties grunting at the impact. In a few short moments, Rose had the man on the ground and tied with a wire she had ripped out of a plug on the wall. She ignored his calls for help, picked up the gun that had fallen from his grasp, and eased herself out of the brightly lit room. The door closed behind her automatically, cutting off the guard's angry yelling.

Now in a hallway dimly lit with greenish lighting, Rose paused a moment to allow her eyes to adjust and the burning in her back to ease a bit. The hallway appeared to be deserted and she mused that perhaps her luck hadn't run out just yet. Rose pushed aside the lingering pain once it was at a more tolerable level, and set off at a steady jog. With no sense of orientation to go by, she randomly turned left as the hallway branched out on either side of the room she came from. After a few turns, she began to wonder at the surprising lack of resistance to her escape. She hadn't exactly been quiet while taking out the guard minutes ago and yet, the halls remained mercifully clear. She continued on, taking hallways at random until she eased around sharp corner to find the metal walls gave way to a floor to ceiling window. She stopped dead in shock for a moment before slowly drifting towards the large window and the view it afforded. Her pulse quickened as she looked out on a sight she had grown so accustomed to once upon a time, but hadn't seen in years. Not like this, anyway.

Space stretched out infinitely in front of her with a planet that was definitely not earth just barely visible in the distance. Rose took a moment to marvel at the beauty of the scene before allowing a rather frightening reality to the forefront of her mind.

This was definitely, in no way, good. Escaping underground prisons or highly armed warehouses was one thing, in fact it was practically her specialty as Agent Tyler of Torchwood, but escaping from a spaceship? There wasn't exactly anywhere she could run in the middle of space. And even if she found some escape pod or something that she could navigate, she was clearly far from earth and without a map. Distantly, over the rapid pulsing of her heart, Rose remembered the eye-patched woman's words, "_Our usual mode of transit isn't compatible with this universe_." Was she even in Pete's World anymore?

These rather large, and seemingly insurmountable problems were pushed to the background as dozens of soldiers erupted armed and yelling into the hallway from either side. Their voices ran into each other and echoed off the walls, but Rose was able to get the gist of it, "Drop your weapon. We really, really _do_ mean you harm." With a harsh glare and with as much dignity as she could muster Rose dropped her gun on the floor, kicked it over towards the nearest guard, and raised her hands in the air.

The guard picked it up and slipped it into his oversized belt before stepping forward and addressing his peers, "What 'ave we got here, eh boys?" Rose noticed the guards were made up of both men and women despite him addressing them all in the masculine, "Looks like another stowaway. Been too long since we got to play with one of those, eh?" His smile was missing a few teeth and would probably be better described as a leer. As some of the other guards around him cheered, he came up behind Rose and roughly wrenched her hands behind her back where he secured them using what felt like metal cuffs. _Great_. At least Rose had been able to hold back a cry as the motion sent a fresh spasm of pain through her back. As bodies began to press towards her, she gritted her teeth and finally spoke.

"Wait! I'm not a stowaway," Rose's voice was lost in the jeers from the guards. She took a deep breath, cleared her throat, and shouted this time, "I'm not a bloody stowaway! I'm Rose Tyler from planet Earth and I'm certainly not here under my free will! This is violating more sections of the Shadow Proclamation than I can count as it is, so I wouldn't be adding to the list right now if I were you!" The guards closest to her fell quiet and visibly paled. Something in what she said had power then. Whether it was her name, plant of origin, the name dropping of the Shadow Proclamation, or something else, she had no idea. The quiet slowly permeated through the crowd until there was almost complete silence despite the frankly ridiculous number of guards that had come to apprehend a single "stowaway."

"Get Madame Kovarian!" the one who had cuffed her barked. And when no one moved he thundered, "Now!"

"No!" Rose yelled, not thrilled at the thought of dealing with that hag again, "I'm supposed to ask for - Oh blimey what was her name? Laura? No Lorna!"

"Lorna?" a short and squat guard stepped forward, "She's my bunkmate, I'll go fetch her -"

"You will not!" The guard thundered from behind her. Rose's stomach sank. So much for her hope of a friendly face in all this. The pudgy guard lowered his head and blended back into the mass of his peers. "Now don't you all have work to be doing? Jefferson, Halby, Frank, and Quibly you're with me. The rest of you, get going!" the deep voice behind her barked. The crowed thinned until there were just the few guards left. _Much better odds,_ Rose thought to herself. As soon as the retreating troops were out of earshot, she made her move.

She jerked out of her captors grip, spinning with visions of a knee to someplace the guard very much valued. Instead, the remaining guards jumped forward and the one at her back regained composure quick enough to latch onto her arm before she could face him.

"Worth a try," she shrugged, smiling despite the fresh wave of pain the unsuccessful attempt had brought her.

"Rose Tyler," the man behind her purred. "You're going to get me that promotion. I should thank you, really, for wandering down my quadrant," he leaned closer to her and she could feel his breath at her ear, "you aren't going anywhere." Rose wrinkled her nose in disgust but stayed still. There were times to fight, and times to feign obedience. It appeared to be one of the later for the moment.

It was probably only minutes she stood there, waiting for this Madame lady, but it felt like longer to Rose. The weariness left over from her injury compounded by the adrenaline crash after her recent scuffling made Rose's legs quiver slightly under the strain of holding up her weight. The burning between her shoulder blades was still flared and now her wrists stung where the cuffs had chaffed during the brief struggle. But Rose was not one to dwell on such trivialities as physical pains. Instead, she stood up straighter, and lifted her chin to stare down anyone who made eye contact. She supposed it was only right to give them fair warning of who they were dealing with. She may be the one cuffed and slightly battered now, but it was only a matter of time until she found an out and the tides were turned. At least she hoped as much.

Finally, the woman Rose was growing to consider with increasing distaste floated in from the right branch of the hallway, flanked by more guards carrying more guns.

"Bout time," Rose sighed irritably to hid her exhaustion.

"I see you're recovered enough then," Madame Kovarian said by way of reply. "Good. Come along then. We're all ready for you."

Rose didn't quite like the sound of that.

"Madam Kovarian," the man who had led her capture pushed her forward roughly, "It would be my honor to escort Miss Tyler. I did capture her, after all." Rose didn't miss the grunts of indignation from other members of her apprehending team.

Madam Kovarian sniffed, seeming unimpressed, "No, er -" she leaned forward to inspect his name badge, "Higgans is it? My boys will take it from here."

Rose turned, pleased to see the indignant look her captor failed to conceal from his face. With a last, glowering stare, he stalked off. Two of Madame Kavorian's "boys" stepped up to grab her by the arms and push her forward after the woman led the way.

"Oi! I can walk by myself, thank you!" Rose protested.

"I think not, Miss Tyler," Madame Kovarian said, not even bothering to turn around knowing her voice would carry through the now relatively empty tunnel, "You've proven untrustworthy. My boys will be your shadow until we deliver you to Lover Boy."

Rose _really_ didn't like the sound of that. Lover Boy? It was just the paradoxically benign name one would expect out of an executioner or master at torture. This day was just getting worse and worse.


	9. Chapter 9

Over the past few years, Rose had always kept fit no matter how much studying she had to do or how insistent Kimmy was that they go to this week's pub crawl. Most days she told herself it was so she would be able to slip right back into working at Torchwood after graduation, but deep down, she knew it was so that if she found _Him_ again, they could run, hand in hand through new adventures. Together. The fact that Rose was completely exhausted by the time the company escorting her stopped in front of a large metal door made her wonder at exactly how long she had been unconscious and what they'd had running through the IV she'd found in her arm.

Rose remained uncharacteristically quiet as she prepared herself for whatever horrors laid ahead of her. She thought about her mum, of Pete, Mickey, Jake, Kimmy and little Tony, but quickly pushed such thoughts aside before they could stray to _him_. Thoughts of her loved ones had no place in these dreary halls. Not unless that was all she had left, and she refused to believe she had arrived at that point. Not yet, anyway. Madame Kovarian set about activating what looked like a complex keypad to the left of the door while Rose was patted down and relieved of the few things she had shoved in her pockets during her raid of the infirmary. The guard to her right was getting far too familiar with her in the process and she started to turn and tell him just where he could shove that stethoscope. Before she let out more than an indigent sound, the door in front of her slid open with a hiss and rough hands unceremoniously flung her over the threshold. Her cuffs deactivated and she whirled around just in time to slam into the door as it slid closed.

"Oi!" She yelled, miffed at the lack of explanation and rough treatment, not to mention the guard's wandering hands, "You open this bloody door right this second and you tell me what the bloody hell is going on! You have no idea who you are messing with, lady! And you, Mr. Handsy on the right! You just look out because I'm coming straight for you once I break out of this box. I swear it! You hear me?" with a final futile pound of her hand Rose sagged against the door. They probably couldn't even hear her through the thick metal that separated them. Still, it felt good to let a little frustration out. She rested her forehead, slick with perspiration, on the cool metal and took a deep breath. Time to face whatever it was they had planned for her. Nothing had attacked her from behind yet. She was willing to take that as a good sign. Steeling herself, she turned…

Of all the things Rose expected to see when she moved to face the rest of the room, it was certainly not a shabby looking Time Lord staring at her open-mouthed and speechless. _Speechless, hmm? Another duplicate then, _she mused. What was this Madame woman on about? Trying to drive her mad?! Rose's frustration flared to life and she aimed it at whatever sorry alien they'd gotten to impersonate the Doctor this time.

"Listen mate, I don't know what game you and Madame Eyepatch are trying to play here, but I'm not exactly the type of girl you can fool twice with this jig. So please, just bugger off because I can definitely take you, but I think it would be in both our best interests if you just -"

"Rose?" she stopped the tirade abruptly, chilled in an instant at the raspy sound. It was just one syllable, choked out and hardly above a whisper, but it stopped her rant as if he had screamed. She studied him more closely. He was in the wrong clothes again, this time it was shapeless off-white attire that hung off his skinny frame. He was thinner than she remembered - his pale, stubbled cheeks seeming to collapse into his face. His eyes were ringed with dark circles and open almost cartoonishly wide as they stared at her. In all the obvious ways, he seemed to be an even worse impersonation than the one she had encountered before. But his eyes…his eyes had been the thing to finally convince her that the Doctor was still _her _Doctor after he had regenerated all those years ago. Nearly everything about him had changed in that explosion of golden light, but when their eyes had met she had seen the same man she had fallen in love with looking out at her from a new face. And now those same eyes were focused on her as the Doctor gaped at her like she was a ghost. The Doctor had talked and talked his way through the universe, but in that one syllable, her name, she heard more, so much more than all of that blabbering put together. All this she took in over the course of just a moment. But that was all she needed.

"Doctor?" she gasped. Afraid to hope, but at the same time already knowing. "It's really you this time, isn't it?" She still had to ask. If for no other reason than to hear his voice again when he answered.

He just shook his head, but Rose knew it wasn't at her question. He seemed to have barely heard her. "But…but that's impossible," he muttered quietly, then slightly louder addressing her with accusing eyes, "You're not real. You can't be." Rose's stomach dropped as he screwed up his face and turned from her shaking his head almost manically. "No, no no. Please. Please…just don't. I don't know what you are trying to do, what this could possibly accomplish, but just please…not, not with _her_. Not using her face." He seemed to be addressing the walls and Rose's concern grew.

Rose stepped forward warily, lifting an arm out towards him even though he was still several paces away, "Doctor. It's me. It's Rose, _your_ Rose. Please, just turn around. Just turn around and look at me."

The Doctor remained staring at the opposite wall, shaking his head, "No. You're not her. She's gone."

"Not gone Doctor, just a dimension away. And that's just peanuts really, when it's us we're talking about. The Stuff of Legends, yeah? What's one little universe? But it's not even that anymore. I'm here. I'm right here. Please just - just look at me." She was amazed that she still had any ability to speak over the tightness in her throat and the hope pounding away in hear heart.

He did turn around then, but it was in a violent whirl and he glared at her with accusation back in his eyes. If she already didn't trust him completely, she might have been scared. "You are _not_ Rose Tyler!" he thundered, "She's dead. I held her as she died and watched the life fade from her eyes. Even the bastards who are running this place couldn't get her blood off my suit. It's there, hanging in the closet. I can see it. Even when the door's closed. Even when my _eyes_ are closed. I can see it. I don't know what you're playing at, but _you_. Are. Not. Rose. Tyler. And you can tell Madame to bugger off."

He went to turn back around but Rose lunged at him, finally tackling the last bit of distance between them. She placed her shaking hand on his arm and to her surprise it was enough to bring him back facing her. The full weight of his tormented gaze started down at her. "Doctor, oh god, I'm so sorry, I'm sorry you had to - that you thought - but if someone died…that wasn't me," her voice was thick with tears and her mind whirled at what she could say to convince him, to forever wipe that look of hopelessness off his face. "Listen to me please!" she begged gripping him harder as his eyes dulled, a look she remembered meant he was retreating into himself. If she didn't get through to him soon, he'd disengage completely. "They've been using copies of us against each other. In the other universe, Pete's World, you came and kidnaped me, but of course it wasn't really you, was it? Just a good enough imitation to fool me for a bit. And let me guess, the other me, the one who - who died, she was wearing a necklace wasn't she? With a strange sort of colorful metallic -"

"Diamond shaped pendant," he finished for her. She thought she caught a glimmer of hope cross his features before the hard mask fell back into place. She nodded focusing on the glimmer, trying to encourage him to accept it, to accept her.

"Doesn't mean anything," he shrugged. "Anyone could know that. Well, anyone mixed up in this anyway."

She was losing what little ground she had gained. Fighting back a wave of fear and desperation she plowed on, "Alright. That may be true, but Doctor," she slid the hand on his arm up to cup his face, "Look at me. You know me. Better than anyone ever has or ever will. Look at me. Because that other girl who looked like me, I bet there were things that didn't quite add up, yeah? Like she had my voice but didn't use it the same way. Maybe dressed funny or had different mannerisms? Look at me. Please Doctor, just look at me. It's me. It's Rose. Your Rose. And I've missed you so, so much." She was crying in ernest now, afraid that any other attempts at speech would be no more than sobs. The hand palming his face drifted away as she looked down in defeat.

A few moments later, she felt his hand slip under her chin and the contact sent waves of warmth through her. He lifted her face slowly until they were staring into each other's eyes. He was shaking his head again, but this time Rose saw it was with wonder.

"Rose," he breathed, not a question this time, and then all there was in the multiverse was him. His arms around her waist, crushing her to him with desperation, the smell of him as she buried her face in the crook of his neck, the vibration of his body as he took shallow, shaky breaths, "Oh Rose. I'd lost you. I'd lost you," he began to sway back and forth with her as he murmured those words over and over again.

She joined in with her own chorus of, "It's ok. We found each other. I'm here. I'm here. I've got you." Her hand drifted up to rub comforting circles on the back of his neck while the other remained wrapped around his torso, pulling him as close as possible.

She wasn't sure how long they stayed like that, her soaking his shirt with tears and, to her surprise, feeling a few warm drops coming from him on the back of her neck. Finally, needing to look into his eyes again, she carefully drew back. He was still looking at her like she was a miracle. She couldn't help the tongue touched smile she beamed at him before asking, "So you missed me too then?"

He reached up, cupping her face with his palm and wiping gingerly at her tear-stained cheek with his thumb. To Rose's relief, his lips quirked up into his own soft smile as he replied, "So much."

They came together then, lips meeting harshly at first in their haste and then slower as they both tried to savor the moment. _Finally. _Rose thought hazily and then stopped thinking altogether. She let him became her world. His lips were chapped, but soft underneath as they brushed across her own in a caress that was colored with reverence. For a few moments, that was all it was, soft caresses, light touches, but then the kisses became harder and Rose moved the hand at the back of his neck up to tangle at his hair. Needing to feel the realness of him, wanting more, Rose brushed her tongue lightly over his bottom lip. He readily opened to her and she grazed the tip of his tongue with her own. One of them, Rose really wasn't sure who, moaned at the contact. She opened her mouth and he took the opportunity to explore her more deeply. It was bliss and better than any dream or fantasy. Kissing him felt like coming home.

They finally broke apart, Rose gasping for air and noting that the Doctor wasn't exactly breathing evenly himself. He leaned down resting his forehead on hers so their noses touched.

"Hello," she whispered through a watery smile.

"Hello," he breathed matching her hushed tone.

She drew back slightly, once again looking into the chocolate brown of his eyes. They were still bloodshot and sunken, but now Rose saw they were once again infused with life, just as she had remembered them. She knew then that everything was going to be ok. It didn't matter that they were in some kind of prison (again) or even what Madame Kovarian had in store. Because now they were together. And any being in any universe who rose up against them had better watch out.


	10. Chapter 10

They stayed like that, holding each other and looking into each other's eyes for a small eternity. It was only when Rose's traitorous legs began to tremble that she spoke, "Please tell me there's more than a hunk of straw for a bed here."

He laughed softly, "Rose Tyler, you've been standing in this room for five minutes and thirty-seven seconds and have yet to look around, let alone come up with at least three escape plans? I think you're slipping."

"Been a bit distracted, yeah?" she joked back softly letting her gaze linger on him for another moment before turning her head to take in her surroundings from the comfort of his embrace.

She gasped at the posh interior, "Blimey! Is this even a jail cell? Feels more like the Ritz!"

"Wait until you see the bathroom!" the Time Lord said, with some energy back in his voice. Rose's laugh was light with relief and a swirl of emotions she couldn't tease out.

"Well then," she began as she slowly brought her hands down from his shoulders towards his hands, "Maybe after a trip to this amazing loo I'll get working on an escape plan or two." She stopped considering, "On the other hand, we do have a lot of catching up to do and I wouldn't mind taking advantage of these um, accommodations before we get to the running part. I'm kind of knackered." She emphasized with a yawn.

He looked at her with concern and was about to speak when Rose's right hand brushed against a small bandage at the crook of his arm. Concerned, she pushed up his baggy sleeve to inspect the bandage closer. She looked back up at the room, something tugging at her mind and this time noticed that an IV pole hung just off to the side of the bed. "Doctor. What is this? Are you sick? What have they been doing to you?" she asked urgently.

He looked away from her and Rose felt the icy tendrils of dread creeping back in. She had noticed he didn't exactly look well before, but she hadn't had much time to ruminate on it. Did Time Lords get sick? Could they be drugged? Poisoned? Oh god! They'd kissed. A perfectly mind-blowing kiss that was a long time coming in Rose's opinion, but what if he wasn't in his right mind? What if it was just some alien chemical and it meant nothing, not to him, and oh god if he didn't say something soon this was surely going to be the end of her.

Gently stepping back out of her half-embrace the Doctor reached up to scratch at the back of his neck, a mannerism that told her he was about to say something that made him uncomfortable.

"Mnotbeeneatin," he mumbled.

"What's that? Rudimentary ape ears here, remember," she motioned towards the side of her head in an attempt at levity to cover the fear simmering within her, "You're gunna have to speak up."

She had hoped for another smile out of him but he just looked at the ground, one hand still attacking the back of his neck, "I, er, I haven't exactly been eating enough. Or really much at all. And, er, been sort of avoiding sleep as well. So, you know, they come in, stick me with something that knocks me out for a bit and I wake up with a tube in my arm." He shrugged like it was all completely natural.

Her heart broke a little when she realized he had been torturing himself without any help from their captors. Her doubts about where the two of them stood faded for later as she directed her attention to him, "Oh Doctor." She stepped forward and took him back in his arms. Again forcing brevity she added into his chest, "Well I'm here now and I'll have none of that. Not losing the last of the Time Lords on my watch, yeah?"

She felt more than heard his chuckle rumble through his chest, "Alright, Rose Tyler, I give in. Don't want to blemish that perfect record of yours. And certainly don't want to upset a Tyler woman. You lot have perfected the art of slapping."

"Oi!" she thawrped at his chest playfully before resting her head back below his chin.

After a few moments of comfortable silence, he murmured into her hair "Now I distinctly remember you mentioning a trip to the loo," he reminded her.

She just nuzzled into his chest, "M'fine right here."

"Rose," she could hear the smile in his voice, "I'll be right here when you get back. And besides, your legs have been shaking for the past two minutes. When was the last time you slept? Or at least rested?"

"Just about an hour or two ago actually. Top notch infirmary beds they have here. Bit more stark that our current accommodations, but soft beds, good oxygen, you know."

"Infirmary beds?" he questioned, it was his turn for his tone to be laced with worry.

"M'fine now. I don't think they were expecting me to fight back so much when they first nabbed me and it got a little out of hand. They healed me right up, or at least mostly, but I'm not sure how long I was out or what kind of stuff they pumped through me - I got some of that lovely IV treatment myself. Think I'm a bit out of shape…or something," she replied as way of answer. Seeing his face still creased with worry she quickly added, "Doctor I'm ok, honest. Just a little sore and in serious need of a nap. And I guess I really do need to pee."

With one last squeeze around her waist, he pulled away motioning to a door to the left of the bedroom, "it's just in through there."

Rose smiled back over her shoulder once she had peeked through the doorway, "Blimey! That whole escape idea is sounding less and less appealing. This place is m'azin'," There was a large shower directly across from her that looked like it would cascade in a waterfall when turned on. To the right of that, there was a huge tub she thought was just shy of qualifying as a full jacuzzi. The toilet and hand sink were on the adjacent wall and looked like they belonged in a palace. The tile floor was heated under her bare toes.

"Wait until you see the food!" The Doctor chirped back, happily rolling on the balls of his feet.

"If being kidnapped and thrown in prison was this nice all the time, I'd have gotten us into trouble more often." Rose said before closing the door behind her. Just before it clicked into place she heard him counter, "Not possible, Rose Tyler."


	11. Chapter 11

The Doctor watched Rose disappear into the loo and found himself thankful that the door was a dark forest green. He thought he might just go barging in there after her, her privacy and his dignity be damned, if it had been another white wall. As it was, he found himself drawn towards the bathroom door until he was standing only inches away. His hand moved almost as a separate entity from his body to press against the smooth green paint for a brief moment. It was only the thought of her opening the door to a clingy Time Lord that made him hastily retreat back a respectable distance.

And then he was completely still as he waited. As pale as he was, it wouldn't be out of the question to be mistaken for a statue if there had been anyone there to observe him. This reaction to Rose's brief absence was a direct contrast to their usual routine. Anytime he'd had to wait for her in the past, be it while she was in the loo of a cosmic theme park or saying a drawn out goodbye to Jackie, he had always fidgeted with barely contained energy, often going so far as to pace and make audible huffing sounds to show his impatience. But right now, even his very impressive Time Lord brain was overcome by everything that happened in the last several minutes and the longing to have her in his arms once again. He could barely remain standing under his own power, let alone fidget.

_Rose is alive!_ He repeated it over and over in his head, letting her scent, the one that still lingered on his skin reassure him. She had been out of his sight for mere seconds and the fear that it had all been a delusion was a formidable enemy he struggled to reign in. He felt it tug at him, pulling him back to the nightmare that he had lived this past month.

When he had thought she was dead, not just lost to him and living a fantastic life in another universe, but dead and gone, everything but the pain that filled her empty space in the multiverse lost all meaning. He had known he should eat, should sleep despite the horrific nightmares, should try every means of escaping from his captors until he succeeded. He had known that it was his duty to the universe, what _she_ would have wanted, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Even thoughts of Donna's fate barely got through to him except to compound his despair. Though he hoped that his latest companion had found her way back to the Tardis and got a ticket home via Emergency Program One, he knew there were any number of frightening other things that could have befallen his best mate. He had spent hours fearing that Donna was in a cell like him, or that she had been lost like so many others, like his beautiful Rose. One more soul on his heavy conscience. One more tragedy that pressed down on him, often making it hard to breathe despite his superior biology.

The extravagant meals that had appeared three times a day had not tempted him. Though the delicious smells had made his stomach growl in a very un-Time Lordy manner, he couldn't bare to eat much more than the odd banana. There had been books, an impressive entertainment system, and puzzles that sat unused as he spent his time laying listlessly on the large bed, caught up in memories of what was and what should have been.

Oh, he would have pulled himself together eventually…if he survived long enough. Even if this him hadn't, sometimes a regeneration could take the edge off of an all-consuming tragedy. That was, after all, how he had managed to survive long enough to meet Rose after the Time War. But with her taken so callously from him, he doubted he would ever truly recover, no mater how many times he changed his face. He had thought about this before, the eventuality of losing her, when they were traveling together and he realized that she was someone special, someone who was so much more than a companion to him. Each beat of her single heart brought them closer together but also closer to the day he would have to go on without her. When he had taken her home to visit Jackie before the mess at Torchwood, he had started to think that being with her, properly being with her and not just dancing around the invisible line he had drawn, would be worth it. But he'd never gotten the chance. Maybe if they'd had some time together, really together - if she truly had been able to give him her forever…but that had not been the case.

Now, having been so abruptly rescued from his state of hopelessness, he knew he should be ashamed of how he had acted - how he had given up and given in to despair. When Rose had looked at him with such sadness in her eyes as he told her the purpose of the IV, he had felt a flicker of shame. But just a flicker. He wished he could have been stronger for her, Donna and the whole bloody universe - a better man for all of them. At the same time, he knew he had been teetering on the edge for a long time now and it had been his traveling companions that had kept him from falling off the cliff. No, he thought, he couldn't be ashamed. He _could_ be happy it was over - that his grieving was in vain, and that he now was given a second chance. That, he could most certainly do. The day he had dreaded for two lifetimes still loomed on the horizon, but for once, it seemed distant in light of all the two of them could achieve in the meantime - if she wanted, and if he could find it in himself to be very, very brave. He thought maybe this time he could.

His swirling thoughts were just taking on the fear that he would drown in her now that she was back when he heard the click of the bathroom door as it opened. In a fraction of a second the anxiety expanded exponentially before he reigned it back in. All those lingering fears he could confront later. Right now it wasn't the time for grand gestures and big decisions. Right now it was just Rose and it was him and they would be together in the comfortable way they always had been. They would get to know each other again after far too much time apart. They would heal what had broken, come up with a mad plan to escape this strange prison, and then maybe…well then they'd just see where their extraordinary life would take them. Together.

His breath caught as she peaked at him from behind the partially open door. "You're still here then? I haven't gone mad after all, have I?" she said with a perfect cheeky Rose Tyler smile hiding what he imagined had been a real concern.

"Not just yet," he chuckled, shoving his hands in his pockets and tilting back on his heels, "But you were taking so long I was worried about my own sanity."

"Oh come off it! I wasn't in there hardly a minute!" she teased back.

"One minute and twenty-one seconds, actually. Entirely too long. Why, I could have cured seven plagues in that time. Or used seventieth century behavior modification techniques to tame a wild Xylex. Or…" he looked down at her as she had used his time spent rambling to cross the room, "Do I need to go on?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

"I think I get the picture," she said reaching up and lacing her fingers behind his neck to initiate an embrace. His hands automatically went back to her waist to steady her as she rocked up on her toes. "And besides, if you keep up that gob of yours we couldn't be doing this…" She broke off, choosing to demonstrate the last part of her thought by meeting his lips with hers. His eyes slid closed, any thoughts of caution or reservations drowned out by the fire spreading through his veins. They stayed with their lips just lightly touching and the Doctor felt her smile against him. She sighed contentedly, pulling back and his eyes immediately opened and found hers as if pulled there. She moved one hand from the back of his neck to cup the side of his face and he leaned into her touch, "I love you," she said softly as she caressed his cheek with her thumb. She was so earnest, her whispered words with such immense meaning, something in him broke.

"Oh Rose," he breathed leaning in to recapture her lips with his own. The kiss was no longer gentle or chaste as they eagerly explored the thing between them that was finally set free. After the briefest hint of coaxing, she opened up to him and he continued his exploration of her, this time fired not by desperation but by passion that had been subdued for far too long. He reveled in the delicious noises she made when he stroked her tongue with his own, and oh! The taste of her! Taste was a very important sense to this body and right now he was completely and blissfuly overwhelmed. He thanked his advanced senses for every facet of her he could take in. She smiled again against his lips as he made some appreciative noises of his own. Suddenly her hands were back tugging at his hair as she took control of the kiss. The fire burning in him flared and he needed to be closer to her. There was still a small amount of space between them and that just wouldn't do. His hands rubbed up her back, pulling her flush against him and -

"Oh!" Rose pulled back, letting out a yelp that wasn't born of passion but pain. The Doctor immediately came back to his senses as if a bucket of cold water had been splashed over his head. The icy weight of fear was back and snaking around his hearts. "Rose!" he said desperately as her knees gave way and he found himself holding up her dead weight. She burrowed her head into his chest and to his horror she started shaking in his arms. _No no no no!_ His mind was a whirl of panic as he swept her convulsing form up and made his way over to the bed. She continued shaking as he carefully deposited her on her side on top of the turned down bed. _What was it!? Was she having a seizure? Some kind of fit?_ He gently reached to tilt her face toward him from where it was turned into the bedding and saw…

She was laughing - laughing so hard her eyes were pinched shut and her body was shaking with silent mirth. "Wha?" he managed completely at a loss and hearts still pounding.

"'M' sorry. 'M sorry," she got out as she reigned in her laugher and threw an arm across her face, "S' just, oh god! I'm a damsel in distress! A bloody swooning damsel in distress." She shook her head schooling her features and opened her eyes to lock with his. She took in his panicked expression and quickly reassured him, "Oh Doctor, I'm sorry. I'm fine. Brilliant, even. Was just too funny. It's been quite a day and I just -" she broke off and reached for his hand, showing her strength through a firm squeeze of assurance.

"Bloody hell, Rose. You almost regenerated me. Don't ever do that again." He puffed out through a long exhale that allowed his tightly wound body to relax a fraction.

"What, laugh?" she said cheekily as she smiled up at him.

The Doctor just let out another sigh and dipped his head to rest in the space between her neck and shoulder. He felt her hand come up to stroke his back and after a few seconds surrounded by Rose, his hearts slowed and that prickly fear began to recede. He pushed himself up so he was propped on an elbow facing her and their fingers twined together as if drawn by gravity.

"Hello," she whispered.

"Hello," he completed their routine and stroked the back of her hand with this thumb before calmly asking, "You want to tell me why me kissing you caused you enough pain to collapse?"

She took a deep breath, "Don't s'pose I can convince you I was just really into it?" she joked half-heartedly. The Doctor wasn't so easily distracted. He looked back at her with worried eyes.

"Rose, are you hurt? Did I hurt you? I'm sorry, I just got -"

"M'fine," she cut him off, blushing slightly, "skin's just still a bit sore from when they, um, caught me. It's mostly better, but I sorta escaped before they were through with me at the infirmary. Didn't have time for that hospital rubbish, I had an alien to find." She bit her bottom lip and smiled up at him. His felt his posture relax slightly at the sight, but was far from satisfied.

"And why is your skin sore?" he pressed.

"Dunno, some kind of burn, I think. But like I said, mostly healed already."

"Can I…can I take a look?" he asked, hoping his imagination was worse than what he would find. Burns were extremely painful and could easily get infected without the right care. His mind swirled with horrible possibilities.

Rose bit her bottom lip considering. "Yeah, ok." He understood her hesitance. He had examined her countless times after trips that went wrong before (or clumsy accidents he was sworn to never mention ever again), but never after such a thorough snogging. Or any snogging, really. He felt charged with more than worry as she sat up with her back to him and eased the loose fitting shirt off one shoulder.

The Doctor sucked in a breath at the angry red marks that stood out on her pale skin. She was right, it was mostly healed, but it had been bad. Bad enough that he was immensely relieved she hadn't been treated within the constraints of twenty-first century technology.

"Oh Rose," he whispered ghosting his fingertips across her skin, careful not to touch the healing blisters, "I'm so sorry."

She shivered at his touch and replied shakily. "I told you, it's fine. Almost healed."

"I know. But you shouldn't have anything to heal from." He brought his lips down for a quick kiss to the healthy skin at the edge of her exposed shoulder before easing the sleeve back up.

When she turned to face him, he was reminded of how tired she was and all that she must have been through the past few days. He realized he didn't even know a fraction of the story. The Doctor laid back down on his side and opened his arms to her. "C'mon. I think it's about time we both got some rest."

She remained sitting, looking down at him hesitantly despite the fatigue in ever line of her body, "But there's so much to say. I don't even know how long it's been for you. Or…or where you've been. Doctor we have so much—" her voice caught and she seemed unable to continue.

"And we still will in a few hours," he promised, reaching to take her hand.

Rose looked like she was ready to resist, body tensed. But instead she let out a shaky breath and nodded, dropping down to lay on her side facing him.

"You'll stay with me?" his heart broke at how fragile she sounded in the request. It was going to take them both a long time before they were confident all this was real.

"Of course," he smiled and wrapped his arms around her, careful to avoid the still-healing skin. She nestled her head under his chin and sighed contentedly. He closed his eyes a moment and welcomed the warm contentment that was spreading out from every place they touched. They both knew that the fact that there really wasn't anywhere else to go wasn't important. He could have the vast space in the Tardis before him and there was nowhere he would rather be than falling asleep beside Rose Tyler. Her breathing evened out and The Doctor thought she may already be asleep. Then she shivered - he supposed it would be a bit cold in the room for a human - and grabbed for the covers that were pulled back at the food of the bed. He bent down to press a quick kiss to her ear, making her giggle, before grabbing the blankets and spreading it over them. She waited as he got settled before lifting herself up slightly to readjust so she was laying against his chest. He pressed his face to her hair and breathed her in, sure that he might just regenerate after all, though this time from happiness. Now that was a new and welcome feeling.

Her breathing gradually slowed and became soft snores as he whispered endearments to her in Gallifreyan. He felt himself following her into slumber despite his desire to hang on to consciousness, to this precious moment he never in all his lives thought he would have. His last thought before sleep finally took him was of the overwhelming love he felt for the beautiful human in his arms.


	12. Chapter 12

"Doctor!" a fierce whisper woke him abruptly from the first peaceful sleep he'd had in ages. Sensing Rose's distress, his eyes snapped open and focused on her where she was already sitting up in bed, wide frightened eyes trained on the wall opposite them.

"What is it?" he whispered back, wondering if it was just a nightmare or if he would have to fight for her already.

"Someone or somethin's comin'," she reached out and grabbed his hand but kept her gaze locked on the far wall, her whole body stiff and ready to move.

The Doctor sat up still unsure of what had her so frightened but already moving slightly in front of her in a protective position. Then he heard it. It was a sharp clanking accompanied by the rattle of shuffling utensils. He relaxed in recognition of the familiar sound and squeezed Rose's hand as he turned back to her.

"It's alright Rose," he tried very hard to keep from chuckling at her misplaced fear. Apparently he didn't try hard enough and she shot him a glare that was both confused and irritated at his nonchalance. He continued as he reached for her other hand, "It's just dinner time. We must have slept through the afternoon."

"Just…what? And how would you know how long we slept? There's no clocks or windows in this place, not to mention we're in the middle of space."

He tapped his temple meaningfully and she rolled her eyes, "Right superior Time Lord blah blah blah," then in a smaller voice, "funny the things you forget."

He squeezed her hands comfortingly and lightened the mood, "Dame Rose Tyler, would you accompany me to dine at the finest venue this side of the galaxy?"

He was delighted when she giggled and scooted up to take his offered arm, "Why Sir Doctor, I think that's an offer I can't refuse." Her stomach growled accordingly as she looked down at her pale, baggy attire. "Although, I do feel somewhat underdressed."

"Nonsense," he replied continuing the charade as he pushed off from the bed and helped her up beside him, "Evil space station prisons have no sense of fashion. In this getup? We'll fit right in."

He led her over to the wall she had previously been staring at in fright and stopped a few feet away from a large trunk that rested against it. He paused counting down the last twelve seconds until -

The trunk lid slid back into the wall with a whir of mechanical noises and a fully stocked tabletop raised up from it's depths to rest where the lid of the trunk was previously.

"Blimey," she breathed jumping back slightly at the tabletop's sudden appearance. He watched as her gaze shifted over the small feast laid out before them and he laughed as she zeroed in on the chips. Give Rose Tyler a meal that rivaled many of the universe's best restaurants, and she still went straight to the chips. He thought he loved her even more in that moment and didn't even scold himself from basking in that dangerous feeling. She dropped his arm and plunked down on the chair reaching for said chips before he could keep up the charade and gallantly pull her chair out for her.

He sat down in the lushly padded seat opposite her's and watched in amusement as she eagerly loaded up her plate with several of the decadent dishes spread before them. She brought a steaming chip half way to her mouth before pausing and looking up at him. "Er, is this safe though? I mean, s'not drugged or anything is it?"

He made a show of sniffing at the table, "Nope, 100% pure food. Well I say pure, but I really mean recycled from -" Rose dropped the chip and reached across the table to clamp a small hand over his mouth.

"Don't think I want to know. S' safe. That's good enough for me." She released his mouth and tucked in to the meal with gusto.

He watched her for a moment, enjoying her enthusiasm, before he started adding small portions to his own plate.

"Oi! We talked about this. None of this 'no eating' nonsense." Rose scolded after a few minutes of her inhaling her meal and him picking at his own.

He smiled at her reassuringly, "'Course. No blemishing Rose Tyler's perfect record," then after a moment of her continued glare, "It's just, I haven't eaten much for so long, I'm afraid the meal may, er, make a reappearance if I go at it too quickly."

Rose's face softened and he saw a flicker of sadness pass through her eyes before they shined in mirth again, "And here I thought my date had superior biology." She huffed.

"Oh you just wait and I'll show you superior biology, Rose Tyler," he husked while leaning forward slightly. _Oh Rassilon! Did he say that out loud?!_ Rose flushing and staring at him with her mouth gaping open would lead him to believe he did. Blushing furiously himself - _since when did Time Lords blush? - _he tried desperately to gloss over whatever _that_ had just been, "Er, well, that is to say, I mean I probably could eat - uh eat more, with my - erm superior biology, but this being our first date and all, I didn't want to risk…" he trailed off and made a show of concentrating very hard on cutting his sautéed rood vegetables into tiny pieces. A heavy silence descended on them and he was sure he had coked it all up already. What had come over him?! Centuries of (mostly) successful repression and he breaks down at a time like this. Rose had just been kidnaped and was still recovering from a serious injury and what he had (sort of) implied was probably the last thing on her mind. Should be the last thing on his mind as well. He was a Time Lord, after all. And even if those baser instincts tugged at him, he should be concentrating on keeping the two of them safe and getting them out of there. Sure, there were those rather brilliant snogs, but that was all 'surprise and happy to see you,' right? Not - not leading to anything….Right? Visions of what such snoggings could lead to filled his mind and he had to get a grip because that heat stirring in his belly was certainly not going to help matters. As usual, his pink and yellow human was to the rescue.

"First date?" she asked. He looked up and she was trying to look cross but was fighting a smile. "Think that boat sailed quite a while ago, Doctor. We had chips, remember? You were Mr. I-just-showed-you-your-planet-burn-and-now-am-making-you-pick-up-the-tab-for-chips-because-I'm-too-daft-to-carry-money?"

He could tell by her tone that she was teasing, but at least slightly afraid that he had really forgotten. Blimey in some ways it felt like she had never been away at all, but in others…well they still had a lot to figure out. First on the list was making sure Rose knew he could never forget something that important. He reached out for her hand, "Course I remember! I just meant since we're…well since we're back." _Together_ was left unsaid, but they both knew what he meant.

He scrunched up his face in exaggerated contemplation, "So what number is this then?"

"Which number date?" Rose laughed before humming in contemplation, "Well, we held hands before I knew your name, I ran away with you before our first date, and I told you I loved you before we ever properly snogged. Not sure conventional things like which number date we're on apply to us."

"Yeah?" He grinned widely at her.

"Yes." She agreed giving him a sure nod and then going back to her food one-handed since he still gripped her other hand from across the table.

He supposed it should frighten him having their whole relationship laid out so frankly like that, but he couldn't feel anything but relieved. The way Rose talked, it was like they were together. Properly together. And he supposed, with the snogging and him already being hers for so, so long, they were. He needed her to know though. He wasn't going to spend this second chance with things unsaid.

"You do know, Rose," he started, suddenly serious and staring intently to her hazel eyes when she looked up from a forkful of flank steak she'd been about to devour, "You - you have to know, that it's not just joking about dates and - and well, it's - for me it's -"

"I know," she set her loaded fork down and squeezed his hand with both of hers. She smiled at him in that soft way of hers which he could only return with a warm smile of his own. "But it's still nice to hear, yeah."

"But - but I didn't even say anything," he sputtered.

"You did though. In your own way." She untangled their clasped hands and he felt bereft at the loss until she eased out of her chair to circle the table and settle on his lap.

He basked in the feel of her warm, comforting weight as she curled up and rested her head on his shoulder. "I missed you," she said quietly, "So, so much. But this, being like this now, maybe it was worth it. Because before with you was brilliant - the travelin' and laughin' an everything, but I wanted…" she sighed contentedly and lightly kissed his neck, "I'm just glad for this. For right now."

"Oh Rose, it would have always -," he started but his throat felt tight. He cleared it and continued, "I was scared, still am really, but eventually…" the next part he whispered with his face burred in her hair, "After your mum's I was going to take you to Barcelona. The planet, of course. Finally. The dogs with no noses are nice and funny and all, but on the southern continent there's a lava flow down this crystalline mountainside and at night it's just brilliant. There's these tiny insects, kind of like lightning bugs, that make everything sparkle and the breeze is warm and the grass is so soft it's used in all the bedding for all the neighboring planets. No one wears shoes there, and why would they! It's one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. And I was going to take you there and I hoped…Well I thought it would be a good place to…"

His words were cut off by the press of her lips on his. It was warm, but quick. She gave him another peck on the lips and a few more trailing down his jaw and neck before she rested her head back on his shoulder and spoke, "It sounds perfect, Doctor. I - thank you. I wish we could go there."

"We will," he promised.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Oh yes."

They finished their meal like that, him taking small bites and her stealing chips off his plate.


	13. Chapter 13

After they were both finished with dinner, Rose let them bask in their embrace for a while before she started to get up. His arms immediately tightened around her waist.

"No, na-ah, you're good here," he assured her and Rose thought the puppy dog look he gave her was almost adorable enough to keep her there.

Instead she gently detangled herself from his arms as she explained, "Well it seems like if we're ever going to make it to Barcelona we have to get out of this place first, yeah? And I haven't properly looked around but this magical dinner trunk thing looks like it may be a weak point."

She knew his eyes were on her every move as she stood up and began poking around the large trunk, "So it was closed when I got here, yeah, so they must load it up with the food - you were right, dinner was brilliant by the way - and then they push it up through the bottom. Doesn't look like there's any space between the table surface and the side of the trunk, but maybe if we could sorta get a ride on the table as it's being put away, we could get to the other side. It's probably a kitchen or something which would be good. Lots of stuff going on in kitchens. Good distractions so we could get a bit of a head start, maybe make it to an escape pod or something. There would be escape pods somewhere right? Or shuttles or…something. I mean people have to get here somehow, yeah? We could…" she trailed off and snuck a peak at the uncharacteristically silent Time Lord. The insufferable git was grinning at her and clearly had been ogling at her bum as she was bent over the far side of the trunk.

"Oi! Are you going to help me or stare at my arse the whole night?" she huffed with her hands on her hips.

"Well if I have a choice…" he replied cheekily. She rolled her eyes and he continued, "Oh all right, on to Operation Escape then. But I don't think the trunk's the key. They must have sensors or cameras or something, it won't open if I'm within a foot of it, and the table won't go back down if I'm anywhere near it." Rose didn't like the sound of that. The idea that some slob of an alien was in a room full of monitors watching her and the Doctor snog…She suppressed a shudder. If everything went to plan, they'd be back in the Tardis in no time. And there weren't spying aliens there. She derailed that particular train of thought before she could think too hard about what the two of them could get up to with a little bit of privacy. She had just scolded the Doctor for his wandering thoughts for good reason. They had a mission objective, and Agent Tyler always got things done.

She raised her eyebrows and continued as if she hadn't just had a wandering mind to match his wandering eyes, "So you weren't completely useless without me then." He cringed and her stomach dropped as she realized the insensitivity of the remark she had let slip.

Before she could apologize he continued in a more subdued tone, "Well, I did try _some_ things. I didn't exactly _want _to be locked up in here. Just didn't have much motivation to do anything exceptionally impressive."

Her heart went out to him as she could tell he was actively reliving the pain he had felt. It had been hard on her, being separated from him while stuck in Pete's world, but she'd had her family and knew he was alive and swanning around saving worlds back in her old universe. If he felt a fraction of what she felt for him and thought she was dead…No, she needed to wipe that lost look off his face. In time, hopefully forever. She walked the few paces over to his chair and tugged him up until he was standing. She looped her arms around his waist and pulled him close. "M'sorry." She said softly, "I wasn't thinking."

He responded by bringing one of his hands up to cup the back of her head and the other around her waist to avoid the still healing skin of her back. "It's ok. I'm just - It's going to take time."

"Yeah," she agreed, "but we'll do it together."

"Together," he agreed and despite his grounding embrace, she felt like she was soaring. His openness was a welcome surprise.

"So this escape plan," she sighed after a minute, "S'pose we should get back to it."

"S'pose," he said, but made no move to let her go.

"Any second now." She said.

"Yep," he agreed.

"Like right now."

"Oh yes. Definitely."

She couldn't help the laughter she huffed into his chest. Finally releasing each other they looked around the room.

"So what have you already tried?" she asked figuring it didn't make sense to work on ground already covered.

"Let's see, the trunk, like I said before, looked under the bed - no monsters," he winked at her, "nothing behind the bookshelves or cabinets and that vent is deadlock sealed so I couldn't get it open even if I had my sonic, which I don't." He pouted at the reminder of the loss of his favorite tool.

"Oh," she said somewhat dejectedly as he rattled off most of the list she had made in her head as options, "Well there's got to be something. Never a prison we haven't escaped from before."

"Welllll," he said in that long drawn out way of his, "except that time on Saturn 9…and Tizzleflaxurg and that place with all the," he made a disgusted face and wiggled his fingers as if they were covered in a distasteful substance.

"Oh the unnamed slime planet!" she exclaimed remembering the purple slime coated landscape and the less than friendly sentient blobs.

"Yes, that's the one! We had to get rescued or were eventually just let go those times. Not to mention all the times I talked us out of a cell with my magnificent gob. No one to talk to here. Or at least no one who is making themselves available at the moment."

"Oi not helping!" she poked him in the chest with a laugh.

Over the next half hour they set out combing their prison suite for weaknesses. The Doctor took one side of the space while Rose took the other and when they met in the middle they both were empty handed and out of ideas. Rose's shoulders were back to aching and was frustrated at having nothing to show for her efforts.

"Bollocks," Rose sighed frustrated and growing more than a little weary. She focused on what she knew about the bigger picture since the room wasn't yielding any hints, "It was a right picnic getting out of the infirmary. Guess they aren't taking any chances here though." After a thoughtful pause she continued, "You know, none of this makes any bloody sense. Like whoever is orchestrating all this, probably bloody Madame Eyepatch," she scowled as she thought of the stern woman, "is slightly incompetent and yet somehow we're good and trapped anyway."

"Madame Eyepatch?" The Doctor questioned and she saw a flicker of the Oncoming Storm pass through his eyes.

"So you've met her too then?" Rose asked.

"Yeah. She was there when, well, when it happened -when I thought I lost - Anyway, I knocked her a good one," he chuckled darkly. "I'd agree that she's probably in charge, or near enough."

Rose walked slowly over to the bed and eased onto it. They had a lot to talk about and she was pretty worn out by their search on top of only a few hours of sleep and…everything else. She patted the space next to her and he joined her, leaning back against the headboard and crossing his bare feet. "So what happened on your end? How did you get here? You said there was a fight?"

"Yeah," Rose replied and then slipped into Agent Tyler mode as she recounted her strange kidnapping. She breezed over how she had been studying physics in America as she was describing the setting, but she didn't miss his proud smile and the curiosity that glinted in his eyes. They would have time for more of that later once they escaped. Right now it was all business. She recounted the details as dispassionately as possible, but she couldn't stop her voice hitching in emotion at certain parts. He grasped her hand when she spoke of saying goodbye to Kimmy and gave a reassuring squeeze when she described how his double had treated her. Through most of it he let her continue uninterrupted, only asking a few questions. "And then they said they were taking me to 'lover boy' and a swear to god I thought it was some euphemism for an executioner or something," she laughed, "But, well, it was you. And you know the rest from there," She finished after a few minutes.

His brow was furrowed in concentration and she voiced what she assumed he was thinking, "But like I said before, none of this makes sense. Like why do evil aliens have enough resources and technology to run this place and jump dimensions but then have to take the city bus? And if they are going to all the trouble of capturing us, why are they just keeping us here like we're pets? Oh god, you don't think we're pets, do you? I mean, it wouldn't be the worst case scenario, but if someone tries to carry me around in a purse there's gunna be a problem."

"No, not pets," he answered distractedly, "or at least it's not one of the millions of options with the highest statistical probability of being accurate." Oh great, he was working up to full Time Lord Ramble Mode. "You're right though. It doesn't make any sense. You said Madame Eyepatch said her mode of transportation didn't work in Pete's world?" after a confirming nod from Rose he continued, "Well that's certainly possible. The Tardis crossed the void but then couldn't work with the new universe's energy. Whatever they used could be the same. Not that they could have a Tardis, but the same principle could apply to other ships… They probably were crossing at a weak point and needed to get to and from that location…but still, a bus?!"

"Yeah, but it worked though, didn't it?" Rose supplied, "I mean, I'm here. They got me. I'm guessing that was the goal. Maybe they don't care about things like dignity," she snorted.

The Doctor released her hand and got up to pace the room. He began to murmur to himself and rake his hands through his hair, hardly noticing that Rose spoke. Oh yes, he was in full Time Lord Ramble Mode, alright. Some things never change, she smiled and rolled her eyes.

He kept at if for several minutes and Rose tried to follow his skittered mutterings. She was pleased that she understood more of it than she would have before, but he still lost her eventually. She had all but drifted off to sleep when he shouted, "Oh! Of course! It's why my spacio-temporal sense is harder to access! We're in a new universe! Not Pete's world, not our world, a new one. New, new universe!" he beamed, "Or maybe a pocket one? Like a bubble on the outside spanning two universes? Possibly." He paused frowning but looking mildly pleased with himself.

"So then we not only need to escape, but we need to get back into the right universe?" Rose asked feeling another wave of exhaustion come over her. Nothing could ever be simple. Not for them.

"Er, yeah," his frowned deepened for a moment, "Well if bus-riding baddies can do it, so can we. Course we have to get out of this room first…"

"And before that, I need to sleep," Rose yawned widely, "You keep that Time Lord brain churning while I take another kip."

She sank back into the lush pillows, "Course, you could always join me. Can think just as well laying down, yeah?" She hoped she wasn't overstepping any boundaries with that invitation.

She needn't have worried. The Doctor smiled warmly at her before jumping on the bed and bouncing a few times on his knees far too enthusiastically for her tired state. He pressed a kiss to her forehead at her grumpy frown and pulled the covers over them as they settled in.

"You have way too much energy," she grumbled.

"And you, Rose Tyler," he emphasized by poking her playfully in the nose, "need entirely too much sleep."

"Mmmmm guilty," she murmured.

She watched him through heavy eyes as he slowly let himself relax for her. She knew he would likely be up and about all night, wound up with the energy of deduction, but she appreciated him staying with her as she drifted off.

"How's your back?" he whispered to her after a moment.

Rose scrunched her eyebrows in thought, "Still hurts a bit…but feels a lot better actually."

He looked surprised but didn't comment except to say he would check it again after she had gotten more rest. "Sleep well, Rose Tyler."

Taking in the soft smile of the gorgeous alien lying next to her, Rose let her eyes drift closed and drifted off to a contented sleep.


	14. Chapter 14

Rose kept her eyes firmly shut as wakefulness tugged at her. She was grasping at the dregs of what had been a deliciously vivid dream before reality started prying it's way back in. God, she could even smell him! As consciousness took a firmer grasp on her, she wondered if that was the next step towards madness. When she heard a voice, _his_ voice, whisper her name she wondered if she had, in fact, skipped ahead several steps at once.

"Rose. What's wrong?" she heard the gentle voice again.

"I can't," she whispered to the memory, "I can't dream about you like this and just get up for breakfast with Kimmy and take midterms and…and go about my day like it doesn't hurt. Like I don't feel like I'm lost without your hand to hold. Please. I just…I just can't." She screwed up her face, willing away the early morning tears she thought were behind her. She buried her head in the pillow, trying to buy herself a few more moments before she faced the day. But then, impossibly, a cool hand slipped into her own.

"I'm right here, Rose," the voice was strong with much more weight than any wisp of a fading dream should offer. She dared to hope. Slowly, Rose turned her head towards the voice and opened her eyes.

She gasped as she stared up into the sleepy eyes of her Doctor. Reality rushed back in and for once, she was _waking_ to find everything she wanted right here in front of her. She remembered it all in an instant, the kidnapping, finding him, falling asleep to the sound of his slow breaths.

"Oh," she breathed, eyes growing wide.

"There we are," he chuckled in a gravely voice, "That was quite a drawn out awakening."

After a moment of moving her lips wordlessly, she found her voice, "I - I thought it was all a dream. Well, it was at first, I suppose," Rose hoped he didn't catch the blush that flared when she thought back to the very - er - vivid details, "But, blimey, you're here. I'm here. It really happened."

"It really happened," he agreed smiling.

"And do I detect a certain superior being may have just recently woken up himself?" Rose teased catching her tongue in her teeth.

"You'll never prove a thing," he smirked. Then at her raised eyebrows he broke the charade and added, "I do sleep you know. You've _seen _me sleep."

Rose laughed as she sat up, "Yeah, but two kips in twenty-four hours? Now who's the one slipping?"

His reply, which was probably completely brilliant, was stollen by something capturing his attention. Rose followed his fixated gaze and realized her loose fitting top and slipped off her shoulder and she was nearly exposed. She readjusted blushing furiously. But then again, she fought a smile at the thought, he was the one who was looking - no, gaping.

They both cleared their throats uncomfortably and were saved from any additional awkwardness by a banging sound coming from the other side of the wall across from the bed.

The Doctor leapt up fast enough to give Rose whiplash, "Ah, breakfast time!" he said far too brightly. He strode over, stopping a respectable distance from the wall and waited until the impressive spread was raised from the depths of the trunk.

Now knowing the drill, Rose did a quick check to make sure nothing else was peeking through her loose clothing and joined the Doctor at the table.

"God, I'm half starved. Been living on cold cereal and energy bars, I have. Haven't had a breakfast like this since school started back up!" she said enthusiastically forgoing a plate to grab at a thick slice of bacon right from the platter.

The Doctor chuckled at her gastronomic enthusiasm and she was pleased to see him tuck in as well, properly this time. That Time Lord had some meat to put back onto his bones. God, if her mum had gotten one look at him, she would have chained him to the table and stuffed him full to the brim.

"What?" the Doctor said through a mouthful of scrambled eggs on toast. Rose belatedly realized she had stopped mid chew to contemplate.

"Just thinking about what mum would say if she saw you right now. The way she's always trying to feed Tony and I, you would think she was fattening us up for the farm!"

"Blimey, she'd never let me leave the kitchen!" the Doctor agreed, "My mate Donna, she's always going on about 'skinny alien this' and 'eat my extra biscuit because you need it' that."

Rose tried to laugh with him, she really did, but her thoughts were stuck and wrapping endlessly around - "So…Donna?" Oh bugger, that didn't sound casual at all.

"Yes. Donna. Donna Noble," Rose could tell the Doctor was fighting a smile the way the corners of his lips were twitching. The bloody alien git was enjoying this! "She was traveling with me when…well anyway, we were - are good mates. She's brilliant! Kept me in line. You'll love her."

"Will I now?" Rose was proud of how the question came out nice and even. She added a large pile of egg scramble to her plate and took a bite. See. She wasn't affected at all. He could travel with a harem for all she cared.

"Rose Tyler, are you jealous?" The Doctor raised his eyebrows in a show of surprise.

"Shut up," she said around a mouthful of eggs.

"Ooo-hoo-hoo! I can't wait to see Donna's face when I tell her that _you_ were jealous of _her_!" then he was back to mock seriousness jutting a fork in her direction to emphasize his next point, "She may slap you for insinuating anything between her and me, you know. Fair warning."

"Oh, so you two weren't…" based on his reaction, Rose was already fairly confident this Donna person had a platonic relationship with the Doctor, but it wouldn't hurt to hear it confirmed.

The Doctor laughed heartily, "Definitely not. Like I said, she would slap you for thinking it. Donna, well she's - she's like a sister, I suppose. She never missed an opportunity to say how much she _didn't_ fancy me. Bit damaging to the ego, that. Now Martha on the other hand, well she _did_ fancy me. Quite besotted, I'd say," Rose had expected him to preen at that, but instead he looked glum for a moment before continuing in a more chipper tone, "And we had the best-"

"Right," Rose cut him off. She didn't think she wanted to hear the rest of that sentence just yet. Or ever, really. She dropped her head to stare at her plate. _On the other hand!? What the hell did that mean!? They had the best ….what? The best what?! _He was either even more rubbish at this than she thought or she was just as replaceable as she had feared.

Rose felt his hand slip into hers where it rested by the side of her plate, "Hey you didn't let me finish," he said softly, "Yes, Martha fancied me but she ended up leaving in the end because, well because she wasn't…you."

Rose looked up at him confused.

"What I mean is that I cocked the whole thing up, made her feel second best because there was this cheeky blonde human I missed so much I couldn't think straight."

"Oh Doctor," she breathed out in half relief, half exasperation. He really was just _that_ rubbish at this. "The poor woman. Of course she was besotted with you. I question this Donna person's sanity for not falling for you as well. You're gorgeous and mysterious and sweep young girls away to adventures beyond their wildest dreams. You're a walking romance novel cliche, you are."

"Go on…" oh she was going to wipe that smug grin right off his face.

"Oi! That wasn't a compliment!"

"Ah, but it's the truth. Especially in this body!"

Rose rolled her eyes and brought him back on course, "So Martha and Donna," she ticked them off on her first two fingers, "and…?"

"And that's it. I met plenty of folks here and there, of course, but those were the only two crazy enough to travel with me long term."

Rose sighed in relief, "Alright so tell me about it," she prompted.

"About what?"

"About," she gestured in a wide circle with a fork full of fried potatoes, "them, your adventures, everything. What'd I miss?"

"Too much," he said softly. He was smiling, but it was subdued and laced with pain. "I missed you ever second."

Rose was startled with such openness from him. Not for the first time since she's found him again, she thought she could see everything he never said as she looked into his eyes. But just like any of his spells it was over nearly before it started.

"That's an important bit," he said cheerfully, "Needed to frame it all properly," he paused to take several large gulps of tea before he began, "I guess it all starts with me minding my own business, flying through the vortex and suddenly there's this angry bride screeching at me from the other side of the console."

"No!" Rose exclaimed laughing.

"Oh yes! Slapped me a good one before I could even land the TARDIS…" his tale continued through the remainder of breakfast and through several cups of tea. Rose found herself hanging on every word as the Doctor wove the captivating story in that way of his. Several times she knew he was leaving things out, but she held her tongue, knowing that it was up to him what he felt comfortable sharing. The result was a picture of wonderful, mad adventure that was the very best of traveling. None of the tragedy, hardship, or messy clean up. In a way, Rose was glad to keep things easy. It had been a rough few years and she needed this light-hearted time with him.

"And then Donna and I landed on this market planet, oh you would love it Rose, mounds of junk but plenty of hidden treasures, and then it was all me being kidnapped and a few weeks here, and I believe you know the rest," he finished a good two hours after he had begun.

"What, that's it?" Rose was surprised at the abrupt end to his story. She watched as his face instantly morphed from boyish enthusiasm to guarded. Oh, he thought she meant what happened when- when the other her…,"I mean, that was hardly more than a year, she clarified."

"Felt like longer," he shrugged. "And you? It's been longer for you, yeah?"

"Yeah," was all Rose could manage at first. Her throat had tightened up and she cursed herself for the wetness that clouded her vision. She realized that she wasn't going to be able to get through this in the same upbeat manner of the Doctor.

"How long Rose?" he spoke solemnly, like he was desperate to know but dreaded the answer.

Rose wished she could lie to protect him, wished she could spare him having to share in her pain, but she wasn't some godly Time Lord. So all she could offer him was the truth.

"Seven years."


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 14**

"_That was hardly more than a year," she clarified._

"_Felt like longer," he shrugged. "And you? It's been longer for you, yeah?"_

"_Yeah," was all Rose could manage at first. Her throat had tightened up and she cursed herself for the wetness that clouded her vision. She realized that she wasn't going to be able to get through this in the same upbeat manner of her Doctor. _

"_How long Rose?" he spoke like he was desperate to know._

_Rose wished she could lie to protect him, wished she could spare him having to share in her pain, but she wasn't some godly Time Lord. So all she could offer him was the truth._

"_Seven years." _

_Seven years?!_ He reeled. He had known it had been longer for her, but Rassilon, not that long! Seven years. He had missed out on seven years of her already tragically short human life. He had thought everything would be ok now that they found each other again, but he had been wrong. Nothing would ever give him, give them, that time back. And it hurt. Oh, it hurt and he felt the ache right between his hearts. His thoughts spiraled to all the places he could have shown her in those years, all the people they could have met, all the times when he hadn't been there for her and he should have been. All those precious timelines gone, existing only in the ever growing list of tragedies he'd faced in his long life.

"Doctor. Please say something." Rose's tremulous voice brought him back to the present and he realized that he had gotten caught up in his dark thoughts for some time. She had moved to stand beside his chair with one arm stretched out like she wanted to touch him but didn't dare.

"Sorry," he blinked a few times and got up to tuck her into his arms, "Sorry, I'm just - that's a long time. Too long. Much, much too long. I'm sorry Rose. I'm so sorry," he continued to murmur as he kissed her hair.

"S'not your fault," oh, and there was his brilliant human comforting _him _when he knew she craved comfort herself, "It's just bollocks," she continued pragmatically, "It just happened and it's bollocks and it's no one's fault. If anything it's my fault for letting go of that damn lever."

He pulled away from her abruptly so he could lean down and look her in the eye as he spoke his next words, "Rose Tyler, don't ever let me hear you say anything like that again. I never once doubted that you did everything you could to stay with me - more than I could have ever thought possible. _We_ did everything we could to stay together. You had it right the first time. It's no one's fault. Weeeell, unless you count the Daleks and Cybermen and bloody Torchwood. And hey, let's count them because I need something to be furious at."

Rose chuckled through the tears that were slowly falling down her cheeks. "Yeah, sounds good to me. All our rage at them, then. I'd almost feel sorry for them if I didn't think they deserve it…and worse."

He smiled at her and carefully wiped the tear tracks from her cheeks. He brushed a kiss against her lips and led her over to the bed - the only other place to sit in the room other than the chairs surrounding the trunk-table. He didn't hesitate to flop down on the plush mattress and rest up against the headboard.

"Seven years, eh? That's a long time. So…" he wiggled around to get comfortable and patted the space beside him, "you start talking now and we have a chance of being finished by dinner."

Rose slowly drifted over and settled herself stiffly next to him, "It's not the happiest story," she confessed, "or the most exciting. Nothing like meeting Shakespeare and waving at fat." He could tell she was trying to smile and not quite getting there.

"Oh nonsense, Rose Tyler! Living life, day after day, I'm sure there's adventure there. Defending the earth, standardized tests, little siblings." He was pleased to see a small smile finally break through at that last bit.

"Tony," she said, smile widening in fondness, "Mum had a little boy. His name's Tony. And he's a right pistol!"

"Of course!" the Doctor agreed cheerfully.

Rose went on to recount her parent's short courtship before a small, private wedding - or renewing of vows as far as the public was concerned - and a positive pregnancy test a few weeks later. _My but they sped things along!_ (And that was quite possibly more than he ever wanted to know about the subject of Tony's conception.) Luckily Rose skipped ahead to the birth which the Doctor was pleased to hear went smoothly. Rose got caught up with one anecdote after another of her little brother, describing him as he grew from a wailing baby, to a trouble-making toddler, to a bright young kid taking his primary school by storm with his mates in tow.

"God, but I miss him when I go off to school. We video chat once a week and mum fills me in on his latest escapades. That kid is either going to end up a world leader or in prison. I'm honestly not sure which," Rose laughed, "You'd love him," she added with a fond smile.

"Think I already do a bit," he chuckled. "Tony Tyler, who would have thought, eh?" Rose leaned her head on his shoulder and nodded, not needing to voice an answer. Who would have thought, indeed.

"So on to this school business then?" he prompted, eager to hear every last detail of the fantastic life he had missed. "And in America, no less. Why so far away? I'd of thought you'd want to stay close to family."

He could see Rose's eyes lose focus as she thought back several years. "Dunno…lots of reasons really. The university had a good theoretical physics program and the research they were doing was closest to something that could help me find my way back home." He knew she meant her home dimension and he raised his eyebrows at the enormity of the task she had taken on. She frowned at him and challenged, "What, you think I wouldn't 'ave done it?"

"Oh no, no! If anyone could do it, it would have been you, Rose Tyler. It's just…I said it was impossible. I _believed_ it was impossible," he clarified, "I would still swear by it being impossible if we weren't sitting here having this conversation." He would not have her thinking he thought her anything less than amazing.

"Well that makes one person who doesn't think I'm mad," she laughed, "Though I think Pete and maybe even Mum thought I had a chance. And of course Tony and Mickey thought I could do anything. But the bloody arrogant gits in research and development at Torchwood couldn't be bothered to give a 'new-money uneducated chav' their time of day, even if I was the Director's daughter. Didn't ever matter how good I was in the field. So…decided I could get me some impressive letters after my name and then they might take me more seriously. Maybe I could even teach them a thing or two. That was the plan, at least. Study up and then find a way back to you. Was a few months from graduation when they took me…"

The Doctor beamed at her for a long moment. "Rose Tyler, you're brilliant, you are!" he grinned at her when he finally found his voice.

She rolled her eyes - blimey she still didn't believe it! "Well, my other option was being the miserable long lost Vitex heiress. The tabloids are even worse than in our world's Britain and it just magnified each little hurt when I saw a mockery of my life on the cover of every magazine. I - I needed to get away. Somewhere I could be anonymous. Even if that meant leaving defending the earth for relative tedium and all the wrong kind of stress. Was hard. But I had to. I had to go. And it didn't turn out so bad…It was nice to be just Rose and not the Vitex heiress. New continent, new people, new things to learn. Had some mates, took care of myself…it was even fun, sometimes. I suppose it would have been wildly exciting if I didn't have adventures through space and time to compare it to. And a certain mad alien I missed more than I could stand." Despite the gravity of her words, she was smiling as she poked him playfully in the side when she mentioned him. He sucked in a breath at the assault of her pointy finger and then grabbed her hand and used his other to tickle her ribs in retaliation. "Oi!" she laughed, and he was pleased to see what could have been a painful subject eliciting laughter instead. It was just so _them._

Between his own (very manly) giggles he preened, "And this mad alien, was he handsome, brilliant, a little bit foxy?"

"Mmmmm," she hummed in affirmation once he stopped his assault to her ribs. Then with a tongue touched smile that drove him half mad she added casually, "I'll introduce you two someday."

"Is that so?" he deadpanned as he stood up and folded his arms sternly in front of his chest.

Rose bit her bottom lip to keep from smiling and nodded.

"Oh, you've done it now Rose Tyler! Because, my magnificent Time Lord brain is telling me that you, silly human, are having me on."

Rose squealed as he leapt at her and redoubled his tickling efforts. In between protecting her sensitive sides, she snuck her own hands to his ribs and gave just as good as she got. They were laughing so hard, he wondered how she was getting by without a respiratory bypass. Rose took advantage of his brief moment of contemplation to launch a full on offensive. She wrapped her leg around his waist as he leaned over her and flipped them so she was straddling his chest. Suddenly, he was staring up at a brilliantly flushed Rose with her chest heaving in mirth. His laughter caught in his throat and his hands reacted instinctively to cradle her bum as his eyes bored into hers. He watched in awe as her mirth faded and was replaced by darkened eyes and panting breaths he imagined no longer had much to do with the fit of laughter. He drank her in, paralyzed and waiting for her next move.

In an achingly slow movement she scooted back and brought her torso down so their faces were centimeters apart. He felt her warm breath puff against her face and all at once, being still was no longer an option. In a quick move he closed the distance between their lips. Far from surprised, Rose immediately took to the prompt and deepened the kiss as soon as it began. Waves of warm pleasure coursed through his body as they lost themselves to their passion. Hands started to roam and at some point he had flipped them over to press his whole body against hers. Certain eager parts of their anatomy lined up through the layers of clothes and he pressed himself against her.

"Doctor!" Rose said breathlessly and his lust-filled mind took a few moments to take in her small hands pushing insistently at his chest. Pushing him away.

"Wha?" he breathed. It was the most intelligent syllable he was currently able to manage.

She looked pained as she whispered, "We can't."

Coming back to himself in a hurry, he rolled off of her to kneel at her side and took a few deep breaths, trying to regain control over himself.

"Right. Course," he nodded, trying not to show his hurt. Or the part of his anatomy that was still visibly open to taking things further. He had thought…but of course she wouldn't want to. Not with him and his alienness and enough baggage to fill several TARDISs.

Rose seemed to see right through him. After a few deep breaths herself she explained, "I'm sorry Doctor. It's not that I don't want to…god I want to! Have for ages. But not here. Not - not like this. Being trapped and probably monitored like we're in a bloody zoo. It's too important. I don't want…I couldn't, not with bloody cameras and some creepy alien watching us -"

"Rose," he breathed, cupping her face to stop her increasingly anxious explanations. "You don't have to explain anything to me. You're - you're probably right."

"You going to be ok though?" she stared pointedly at the lingering evidence of his arousal.

And there he was blushing furiously again, "Yeah. Yeah, course. Sorry, it's just that…sorry, I'll just -" he made to get up but she stopped him by grabbing his hand.

"S'all right," she smiled, "I'm right there with you."

He didn't think before he responded with a casual, "Oh, I know."

When she went rigid and her previously hooded eyes widened he realized what he had said, "You…you _know!_?"

The hand not holding hers went to the back of his neck. _Bugger_. "I'm sorry, I can't help it. Time Lords have very advanced senses and…"

"Stop!" she held out her hand and then covered her crimson face, "Oh god! Every time?!"

"Wellll, probably not. I mean I wouldn't know what I don't know, you know. But there would have to be high concentrations of your, erm scent, so we would have to be in close proximity and not in a well ventilated area, and well, you'd have to be giving off a certain level of, erm…" he trailed off, not knowing how to finish that sentence without causing them both further embarrassment.

"Oh god!" Rose moaned.

"Hey," he tugged at her hand, "Rose, it's perfectly natural." He debated and then decided on continuing with more than he was usually comfortable sharing, "It doesn't bother me, in fact, well, I rather enjoy it. Knowing you…feel that way."

She peeked from beneath her hand, "Yeah?"

"Oh yes," his voice had come out husky without his permission, and oh blimey, her eyes were darkening again and that was the exact opposite of what would give his already tenuous self-control a chance of holding out.

"Right then!" he popped up out of the bed. "Even more reason to get out of here. Last night while you were getting your human-y beauty sleep, I was thinking that the entertainment screen looks slightly 40th century Martian and I might be able to harvest some components and…," he continued on, the ramble helping the arousal fade to manageable levels and the last of embarrassment float away. Rose straightened her clothes out and sat on the bed interjecting ideas and asking all the right questions as he paced. They spent the remainder of the day stripping through the electronics for parts as Rose continued to fill him in on her life since they had been separated, sometimes tearfully and sometimes with laughter. They took breaks for meals and then to get cleaned up at the end of the day, regretfully taking separate (but very long) turns in the shower. It felt good to shave away the stubble he had let grow and finally be able to brave facing the bloodied suit to pick out some new, proper clothes from the closet.

Once he and Rose were both clean, refreshed, and clad in an alien interpretation of jim jams, he settled down with her as she fell asleep. They shared a few passionate kisses, and though they both still wanted more, it was easier to stay in control now that clear, but temporary lines had been drawn. They talked softly about silly things until Rose fell asleep mid-sentence at what would have been close to 2:00 in the morning Earth time. Warm and content holding his Rose as she slept, he decided to get his two or so hours of sleep before he started tinkering.

They came for her early the next morning.


	16. Chapter 16

**Quick note - thanks SO much for the follows, favs, and reviews! This was the first fanfic I've ever written and every little bit of feedback is super exciting! So thanks! We'll start to get to the meat of the story now. Buckle up, it's gunna be an angsty ride. **

_Once he and Rose were both clean, refreshed, and clad in an alien interpretation of jim jams, he settled down with her as she fell asleep. They shared a few passionate kisses, and though they both still wanted more, it was easier to stay in control now that temporary lines had been drawn. They talked softly about silly things until Rose fell asleep mid-sentence at what would have been close to 2:00 in the morning Earth time. Warm and content holding his Rose as she slept, he decided to get his two or so hours of sleep before he went back to tinkering._

_It was early the next morning when they came for her. _

Rose had woken up comfortable and content with none of the sadness and confusion she had experienced the previous morning. Though she was alone in the bed, the tapping and light shuffling noises told her the Doctor was nearby and working on getting them out of this place. The previous afternoon they had worked out a new target for their escape route. The large vent cover that was near the ceiling to the upper left of the table/trunk looked big enough for them to squeeze through if they could just get past the deadlock seal. Though not even a sonic screwdriver could break through that, the Doctor thought he may just be able to cobble together something that had half a chance. Rose certainly hoped he would be successful, and soon. Not only would it be nice to finally feel safe and free, but she had plans for her Time Lord that she couldn't carry out until she was confident they had privacy. She smiled predatorily into the pillow at the prospect of finally being able to live some of her long held fantasies.

Instead of following that train of thought, she stretched out the morning tightness of her muscles and sat up, eyes immediately settling on the Doctor. She chuckled to herself as she took in his newly donned and slightly ridiculous looking powder blue suit with hair spiky from running his hands through it as he worked. He'd left his feet bare and hilariously used toes to aid in his tinkering when two hands seemed to be insufficient. Rose held back her giggles as she watched him for several minutes.

"Morning!" she finally said, much more upbeat than her usual morning grumbled salutations.

"Rose!" the Doctor brushed the tangle of wires and other electronic bits off his lap to stand and bounce up next to her on the bed. He leaned down and gave her a good morning peck that was much too quick and chaste for her liking. As he went to pull away, she grabbed him by the lapels of the suit and pulled him down for a much more thorough snog.

They pulled apart just before it sent them both over the edge and beamed at each other. Rose still couldn't believe that he was here, with her, and that good morning snogs were now part of their lives.

"Sleep well?" the Doctor inquired.

"Mmmmm very." Rose purred extending into a final stretch before she slipped out of bed to wander over to see what the Doctor had been working on up close.

"It seems you were a little more productive than me though," she gestured to a small contraption that was almost starting to look like something useful.

The Doctor bounded over to her and excitedly picked up the partly finished tool. He offered it to her in a proud display, "Impressed?" he beamed as if he already was assured of her affirmative answer.

"Possibly," Rose replied evenly. He was going to have to work for it if she was going to feed his already overlarge ego. "What's this do then?" she asked, taking the unfinished gadget into her hands gently.

"Nothing at the moment," he admitted, "but when I'm done it should be able to key into the frequency of the deadlock and reverse it. And then this," he bent down to pick up a smaller half-formed object Rose had assumed was just another piece of junk, "will break that metallic seal around the outside. The vent cover should just pop right off and wah-lah! Freedom!"

"All right. I have to say, I'm a bit impressed," she grinned as he beamed back happily.

"But I haven't even told you how they work! Sit down Rose Tyler, and prepare to be awed by my brilliance!"

"Hold that thought." She stopped him when he took a breath to continue, "If I'm going to sit through all that, I have to run to the loo first." He looked slightly disappointed but brightened as she gave him a peck on the cheek and left him with, "Don't want a full bladder to be distracting from my awe." There was only a hint of sarcasm in the last bit. Well, perhaps slightly more than a hint.

While she was in the loo she decided to take a few extra minutes to freshen up. She brushed her teeth, ran a strangely shaped, yet functional comb through her hair and experimented with the makeup she found in the drawers under the sink. She wasn't familiar with any of the brands, but thought she did a good enough job at least figuring out the equivalent to earth eyeliner, mascara, and lip gloss. She used just enough to highlight her features without going overboard - a look she had taken to while living in Pete's World. She admired the result in the mirror, feeling more like herself than she had in days. She looked forward to raiding the clothes closet after breakie.

She expected the Doctor would have been back to his tinkering, but found him instead seated at the trunk/table which was now laden with a full breakfast spread.

"Oh brilliant!" she quickly crossed the room to the seat opposite him.

"Quite right! Can't have a rumbling stomach distract you from my genius either," the Doctor said seriously.

"Oh get over yourself!" Rose threw a grape at him which he deftly caught in his mouth, much to her chagrin.

"Never!" he smirked as he chewed the would have been projectile.

Rose rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to say something appropriately witty when she was hurriedly shushed by the Doctor.

He had gone completely rigid and was staring over her shoulder towards the door leading out of the room.

"Doctor?" she whispered, wondering if he was having her on. He didn't answer and Rose started to feel wary. If this was his idea of a joke, it wasn't funny.

"Doctor, what is it?!" she whispered with more urgency.

After an agonizing moment of silence he finally answered her but his response was far from comforting, "Someone's coming," he said bluntly as he stood up, "Rose c'mere. Get behind me."

She obeyed, or at least partly, coming to stand by his side instead of behind him. She grabbed his hand and felt his rapid double heartbeat as he returned her grip tightly.

It only took another moment for Rose to hear what his advanced senses had already picked up. There was the slap of boots echoing just down the hall - several pairs it sounded like. Perhaps as many as a half-dozen. The sound grew louder as whoever it was got closer to the door of their cell.

Rose pushed the growing fear away, falling back on her training to channel the adrenaline into fuel for an upcoming fight. She dropped the Doctor's hand after a firm squeeze and moved into a defensive position as she heard a series of clicks coming from the door. There was no mistaking it. Whoever it was was not just passing through. They were here for them. Maybe this was when they would finally find out why she and the Doctor were being held here. She doubted the reason would be in their favor. That's just not how things seemed to work.

"Rose stay behind me," the Doctor ground out through clenched teeth. She didn't have to read his mind to know he was sharing her line of thought. Though the past days had been filled with the joy of being reunited, there had been a steadily growing undercurrent of anxiety that had gone unmentioned. Their captors had shown themselves to be capable of great feats and unrepentant violence, not a good combination. It's seemed that Rose and the Doctor's hope to escape before things came to a head wasn't going to work out so well. It didn't mean they had to just docilely take whatever was coming.

"No way," she replied tersely, "there's at least five of them. It's going to take both of us." She held his eyes in a piercing stare, making sure he knew the truth of her next statement, "They're not separating us, you hear. I won't let them."

He held her gaze for a quick moment, coming to a decision and nodding tightly.

Several more seconds passed and just when Rose thought she couldn't stand another moment of tension, the door hissed open and the room erupted in chaos.

Rose didn't have time to count the number of military garbed guards before they raised their guns and a series of popping sounds filled the room. Rose had a moment of terror before she realized the jabs she felt in several different places on her body were not bullets, but darts. The relief was short lived as she felt her muscles rapidly losing strength. Her legs gave out, but she was roughly grabbed and thrown over a guards shoulder before she could hit the floor. She used the last of her strength to crane her neck in frantic search of the Doctor.

"Rose!" he called to her desperately from where he had collapsed on the floor. She saw darts sticking out of him in at least four different places.

"Doctor!" she tried to reach for him but her arms merely flopped uselessly as they hung down the back of the man who carried her towards the room's exit.

"Let her go! LET HER GO!" the Doctor roared as he tried to push himself up onto weakening legs. He immediately collapsed back to the floor but managed to hold his upper body up with shaking arms.

"DOCTOR! Doctor, I'm sorry. I can't move - I can't - Doctor…" her screams tapered off into whispers. The last thing she saw before she lost consciousness was the terrified face of her Doctor as he collapsed fully, still screaming her name.


	17. Chapter 17

Rose woke for the second time that morning, but this time she was neither content, nor comfortable. She came to as if wrenched from unconsciousness, terror flooding her system until she could tramp it back down and take stock of where she was. She was bound to a hard, flat surface that had her slightly inclined from a horizontal position. The restraints looked like no more than thin strips of plastic, but she quickly learned that no amount of straining against them was going to get her anywhere. At least they didn't chafe. Finally, she raised her gaze to take in the rest of the dimly lit room and was met with the steely gaze of none other than Mr. Handsy. Just bloody great.

"Good morning luv," he greeted her with a voice that was disconcertingly high-pitched for his bulky stature. She would have laughed at the cartoonish picture he made if she hadn't been distracted by the deadly looking cylinder he gripped in his left hand. The tool hummed with what she assumed was electricity and let out a series of sparks as he twirled the handle through his fingers. She hoped it would slip and zap his bloody hands off.

"I'm not your love." Her voice came out perfectly measured and cool, and her eyes narrowed dangerously. She had learned a thing or two from the Doctor about an Oncoming Glare. Such a look had come in handy more times than she could count when dealing with alien hostiles in Pete's World. Perhaps it was the fact that she was restrained that it didn't seem to have much of an effect on Handsy.

"You'll be whatever he wants you to be after a few jabs with that device," a voice Rose recognized scolded her. Rose heard the tapping of heels on cement as Madame Bloody Eyepatch herself stepped from the shadowed edge of the room into the dimly lit center. Though Rose met the woman's one-eyed gaze without a trace of fear, a monitor just out of Rose's line of sight beeped furiously. Damnit! They must be monitoring her vitals. She twisted within the restraints and sure enough, she could feel the sticky electrodes that were stuck in various places on her chest and stomach. She really hoped it wasn't Handsy who had put them there.

"Oh good. You're smart enough to be scared," Madame Eyepatch purred, referring to Rose's elevated heart rate.

"What do you want?" Rose spat back. Aside from one rather horrific instance when a hostile was simply in it for the fun of torture, they always wanted something. Rose was quite good at negotiations…and other means if those failed. Perhaps this was the chance she needed to get them out of this place.

"Babies." The woman replied simply.

Rose couldn't help it. Her built up tension snapped and she laughed. Of all the crazy things she had expected to hear…"Sorry lady, but I can't help ya there. I'm fresh out o' babies at the moment. Was meaning to stop by the store but I've been locked up in prison. You know how it goes…"

"Just one will do," Rose didn't like the way the woman smiled at her like she was prey.

"Like I said. Fresh out. So…I'll just be off then, yeah?"

Now the woman was the one to laugh and the sound grated on Rose's nerves. "While you were sleeping so unconsciously, we ran the tests and you are quite capable."

Rose froze as she caught the implication and pieces of the puzzle started falling into place. The posh prison, the sexy underwear she had on because there had been nothing practical in the closet, her and the Doctor reunited and trapped together in something like a honeymoon suite…"You want me to - you've got to be kidding me," Rose swallowed and after a brief internal struggle regained some composure, "You're not sent by my mum are you? I know she wants granbabies but this is going just a tad too far."

The woman continued to smile at her in that self-assured, unnerving manner, "I like you, Miss Tyler. Almost as much as what you can offer me. I'll get right to the point then, since I like you just so much: I need an infant Time Lord and you are going to give me one." Madame Eyepatch raised her hand to stop the protest Rose had ready on the tip of her tongue, "No, you aren't a Time Lord, I'm well aware, but you're compatible with one and his genes will be dominant, or near enough. And you should thank me, really. I planned this carefully to prompt things to progress more…naturally. Fake your death, let him know what he was missing and then give you back to him on a silver platter. He appears to have more self control than I thought if he didn't take you as soon as he had the chance. Or rather you do. You just had to say 'no,' Miss Tyler. Things could have gone so much smoother for you. Now, I'm afraid, it's going to hurt."

With that, a jolt of pain flashed through her body. It was only a second or two, but it left Rose even more breathless than Madame's brief, but frightening monologue.

"You're mad," Rose ground out as the last spasm of pain left her, "I'm not going to shag the Doctor just because you tell me to - fancy prison cell or not, and I'm certainly not popping out a baby anytime soon. Don't much care for kids, me. What do you want with one anyway?"

Rose was rewarded for her resistance with another shock of pain, this time it was longer. Since Handsy had remained a few feet away throughout the last several minutes, she figured the electrodes on her chest weren't just monitoring vitals. Still, she didn't let a sound escape her lips. She was surprised that Madame Eyepatch answered her question once Rose had caught her breath.

"I've been fighting a war for a long time, Miss Tyler. And I'm weary of it. I wanted to retire centuries ago, but that mad man you're so fond of continues to put the entire multiverse in jeopardy. I won't be able to rest until he is disposed of. And for that, I need a Time Lord. My very own who I can raise to be the perfect assassin. Who better than to finally defeat the Doctor than one of his very own. And this time, it will work."

"This time?" Rose queried, for some reason focusing on that last detail. The Doctor had said he was the only one left…was he wrong?

"Old timelines that have shriveled and gone," the woman waved her perfectly manicured hand dismissively, "I very nearly had him that time, but my assassin wasn't quite strong enough. Bloody infatuated girl." Madame Eyepatch muttered the last part.

Rose smiled, "She fell in love with him." Of course she did. Who wouldn't?

"Which won't be a risk this time," the older woman sneered.

"It won't work." Rose shrugged as much as she could in her restraints. This woman had failed before and she would again.

"And why is that," Madame indulged.

"Well…" Rose wished she had her hands free to tick of the many reasons, "first of all, and I think we've already gone over this, I'm not shagging the Doctor, well not until we escape and take the proper precautions," she added thoughtfully, "so no Time Baby. Secondly, if you think the Doctor will initiate anything with me once he knows your plans, you'd be mad. Third, you clearly are mad if you think the Doctor is anything other than the best thing that has ever happened to the multiverse. If your concern is really for existence, you should be helping him, not trying to kill him. Fourthly, the Doctor is ten times more clever than you'll ever be. He's bested you at least once before and he'll do it again. And Finally, you just clearly explained your whole plan to me which I thought they would have warned you against in Villain 101 class."

Rose expected the shock that wracked through her body this time and held Madame Eyepatch's gaze in defiance despite her eyes tearing in pain.

"Still not learning, Miss Tyler. You will though. We're only on the lowest setting right now and I haven't even let my associate use his toys yet. You could make this very difficult on yourself. Which brings me to, what was it, point two I believe? Perhaps I'm mad, but I have this crazy idea that the Doctor will indeed mate with you if he knows your life is at stake."

"Well then, oh, I know! I won't bloody tell him!" Rose shouted, "Plus. You won't kill me. You need me." This time the shock of electricity lasted several seconds longer and was at least twice as strong. She felt a trickle of sweat drip down her temple.

"Don't give yourself any delusions of grandeur, Miss Tyler. You're still just a shop girl from an estate - yes I did my research. A silly human who the Doctor happens to fancy. If he won't mate with you, we'll bring in another. And another and another. How many do you think the Doctor will let us kill before he gives in? I'll get my baby, Miss Tyler. Whether from you or any number of compatible females that exist."

Rose stomach lurched at the truth of her words. The Doctor could never stand by and watch others suffer. No matter the cost to him personally.

"And as for why I let you in on how things will be…well I'm just that confident you have no means of standing in my way. I have no doubts that you will slow the plan down, but it will be so much worse for you than me. I've been at this for hundreds of years and can wait a few extra months. I like you, Miss Tyler. I would enjoy having part of you in a weapon. I really hope you break before I have to kill and replace you."

Though Rose didn't respond she was still treated with a shock that rivaled what she had experienced so far - a parting gift from a psychopath. She managed not to make a sound as every nerve ending felt like it was on fire, but her back arched up and her mouth was open in a silent scream.

"I think that's enough for today." Madame Eyepatch said, already making her way back through the shadowed exit from the room. Rose didn't miss Handsy's look of disappointment as he shut off his toy and fished out a syringe from his pocket instead.

Rose fervently hoped the Doctor had made way on his tinkering. They needed to get out of here. As soon as possible.


	18. Chapter 18

The Doctor hadn't stopped screaming her name until several minutes after Rose's rag doll form disappeared through the door of their cell. As he lay there, conscious, but hardly able to move, he watched a few of the remaining guards confiscate the devices he had been working on and then replace the ruined electronics in the room with new models. He imagined the sonic-like whirring he heard was them sealing the new appliances off with the same deadlock seal that had him trapped in this bloody room. One burly man stood on a chair to check the vent and grunted in satisfaction when he saw it was still firmly in place. They had been watching them, the Doctor realized. Rose had been right.

Then he was alone and a feeling of intense hopelessness fell over him. They took her. They took his Rose and were doing who knows what to her and he was unable to move more than his head and the tips of his fingers. How could he have let this happen?! He had sworn to himself that he would never let anything separate them again, that he would protect her at all costs, and look how long that had lasted. She may be in pain - scared, drugged, and hurting. She may be dying this very moment and he wasn't there to save her. He may never see her again.

He lost himself to fear and rage for several minutes before he got back some measure of control. By then, he discovered he could move his arms and legs. Though still weak, he managed to push himself up on all fours. He waited two minutes and twenty-four seconds for more strength to return and then he was back on his feet and stumbling to the door of the cell with only one thing on his mind - _get to Rose_.

He pounded on the door, harder and harder as his strength continued to return to him, until he had thoroughly bruised his palms and knuckles. Giving that up as a futile pursuit he re-examined the door for any crack in the seal, any sign of weakness he could use to get out, to get to Rose. His fingers were bloody by the time he finally became aware of the smell of their forgotten breakfast. He turned towards the table/trunk and stared at their hardly touched meal. A new wave of rage overcame him as he saw the usual morning spread laid out as if life were supposed to just go on without her by his side. His first impulse was to give in to that rage and dash the breakfast across the room. But if Rose came back - no _when_ Rose came back, he didn't want her to see evidence of him losing control. As he gave up the rage, fear seeped in to take it's place.

He leaned his back against the door and slowly slid down the cold metal surface until he was sitting on the floor. He looked around the room and felt helpless. He was a Time Lord, a feared and powerful member of what was once a feared and powerful race. But now, he couldn't even break out of a damn room to save the women he loved. And he needed her so much. He needed her to give him that smile of hers and take his hand and ask all the right questions that would bring him out of this frozen, half-panicked state.

He wanted to stay as he was, half sprawled on the floor, and give in to fear and despair. It had become his modus operandi in the weeks leading up to getting Rose back and it was oh so tempting to slip back into that dark place. But unlike before, there was still hope. The bad guys had Rose, but why, he did not know. Both of them had been treated well since they were brought here and that lended to the two of them being important, or at least useful. What good would come of hacking through dimensions to get to Rose only to execute her days later? Sometimes he would believe that the universe was just that cruel, but logic was winning out this time. That faint flicker of hope was growing into something more concrete and calming. She was alive. She would be back. And when she walked in through the door he was currently leaning against, he wouldn't disappoint her. He wouldn't be a mess, and he wouldn't leave any evidence of his temptation to give up.

He forced himself back to his feet and walked over to the breakfast spread. Wherever Rose was, he wasn't sure if she would be given food. She would likely be hungry when she got back. He took one of the two empty plates and loaded it up with all of her favorites. He doubled all of the portions until the plate was heaping, knowing he would wait to eat with her. More than it being a courtesy, he knew he would have no appetite until he knew she was safe. He fixed two cups of tea and carried the lot over to the bed in two trips. Seconds later, the trunk sprang to life and the remainder of the food disappeared back where it came from.

And then he sat. He stared at a point in the wall, wracked his brains for new escape strategies, and slowly sipped at his tea. He tapped his fingers, ran a hand through his hair, and finally got up to pace the length of the room. This, the waiting, the not knowing, was going to drive him mad. The anxiety that had been his constant companion since he had heard the guards approaching flared and waned as his internal monologue altered from reassuring to focused on all the horrific things that could be happening to the person he wanted to protect above all else. Minutes passed and then an hour. His tea was drained and their breakfast had long since gone cold. His thoughts were increasingly spiraling towards the dark again as his control was exhausted and he was about ready to tear the room apart just for something to do.

Finally, finally he heard the thumping of boots. He froze, straining to listen, and yes! They were stopping outside the door. They better either have Rose or be coming for him because he couldn't take this empty room for one minute longer.

The door hissed open and his beautiful brilliant girl sent a scowl after the armed guards before turning fully towards him and stepping into the room. He was at her side in seconds enveloping her in his arms. He didn't notice or care when the door hissed shut and they were once again in the illusion of privacy.

"Rose! Oh Rose. I was so worried. I thought…no. It doesn't matter. You're here now. My Rose," he buried his face in her hair and took immense comfort from her warmth, her scent, just _her_. She let out a shaky breath into his chest and returned the embrace with what he imagined was nearly all her strength. He didn't even care that he would likely have bruised ribs. He caressed her hair, her shoulders, her back and murmured her name repeatedly.

Then he realized that just because she walked in here under her own power, she still could be hurt. In a panic he released her from the embrace and cupped her face as he anxiously looked her over for any sign of injury, "Did they hurt you? Are you ok?"

"'M fine, Doctor," she said and he didn't like the edge of something in her voice that he couldn't quite place.

"You sure?" he questioned, still far from reassured.

"Yeah, I am now," she smiled and snuggled back into his embrace. He hoped she received the same comfort it offered him. "How bout you? Did they hurt you once I was…indisposed?"

It had never occurred to him that _she_ would worry about _him_. "I'm fine. Whatever was in those darts may be strong enough to knock a human out cold, but it just sort of paralyzed me for a few minutes. Long enough for them to come clear out our little project." He didn't quite succeed in keeping the dejection out of his voice.

"What?!" Rose pushed back from him and spun towards where he had been working on the devices earlier that morning. "No!" she rushed over looking for any trace of what was supposed to be their best chance of getting out of here.

He came up beside her and was surprised to see her eyes panicked and filled with tears. She looked desperate, her breathing accelerated, movements twitchy, and eyes dilated like a scared animal. When she resisted his attempts at an embrace, he settled for rubbing his hands up and down her arms in an attempt of comfort. "You were right, Rose. They're watching us somehow. Didn't see any cameras when we poked around before, but still…they knew. Probably can hear us too. And I know you want to get out of here, and I know that was our best hope, but it's not our only option."

She looked up at him hopefully. "There's another way!? You can get us out of here?"

"Well, not as such…that is to say I don't currently have anything in the way of new ideas, but Rose, we'll find something. We'll figure something out. We always do."

Rose turned away from him, "We need to leave Doctor. We need to get out. Now. We don't have time to-"

She was cut off as he guided her back around with a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Rose? Where did they take you? What did they do to you? If you know something - something about what they want…you need to tell me. If they hurt you -"

Rose stepped back from him and folded her arms across her chest protectively. "I said I was fine, Doctor." She seemed almost cross with him, but he thought the true underlying emotion was fear.

"I know, Rose. But I still don't know what happened to you, and it's really starting to scare me. Can't think of anything else until we get that sorted. Tell me truthfully what happened? Please?"

But Rose just continued to withdraw. "I need the loo," she mumbled before slipping past him and escaping into the bathroom. For that was what it was; an escape, he realized. He had been so relieved when she was back in his arms and appeared in one piece. But now….sure, she still did seem to be whole physically, but something was clearly wrong and he was desperate to know what.

Trying to respect her space, he sat down on the bed next to their breakfast plate and waited for her to be ready to emerge. His advance hearing was enough that he was confident he would be altered to any severe distress she may need him for. Right now, he figured she just needed time to figure something out. He could give her that. She had clearly been through something frightening in the hour or so they were apart and he didn't want to add to her distress.

Finally, after nearly ten minutes, a much calmer and refreshed looking Rose emerged. She smiled at him tentatively and somewhat embarrassed before joining him on the bed.

"You saved me some breakfast," she commented with a smile that was a little wider, a little more genuine.

"Course," he smiled back in the same restrained manner, not wanting to spook her.

She let out a large breath, and told him what happened while they were apart.


	19. Chapter 19

_Finally, after nearly ten minutes a much calmer and refreshed looking Rose emerged. She smiled at him tentatively and somewhat embarrassed before joining him on the bed. _

"_You saved me some breakfast," she commented with a smile that was a little wider, a little more genuine._

"_Course," he smiled back in the same restrained manner, not wanting to spook her._

_She let out a large breath, and told him what happened while they were apart._

A few minutes earlier…

Well she sure as hell wasn't going to tell him the truth! She knew at least that much.

Rose forced herself to take deep breaths as she braced her arms on the bathroom sink. She had fled to the privacy of the bathroom when she felt the beginnings of a panic attack coming on. The feeling was nothing new to her, though it hadn't been as common in the last few years. She'd had her first panic attack on the way to Pete's estate after she was stranded on the wrong side of that white wall at Canary Wharf. Back then she didn't know what was happening and had been sure that all the pain and grief she felt was going to kill her right then and there. Luckily, Pete'd had his share of panic attacks when he was a young man and was able to help her work through that first horrible one. If she thought about it, she supposed that was the tenuous beginning of what became a close bond with her not-quite-father.

After the first one, the attacks became a regular facet of her life, but she refused to see a professional about it despite her family's growing concern. It wasn't until an anxiety attack interfered with a mission (one of the civilian's battered bodies had been wearing brown pinstripes) that she gave in. She couldn't let herself be a liability to her team in the life and death situations they constantly found themselves in. The fact that she was threatened with being relegated to a paper pushing position if she didn't see a Torchwood psychiatrist also helped to seal the deal. At first Rose had been skeptical of the soft-spoken old man who wanted to talk about things she really didn't, but Pete encouraged her to stick with the sessions and she eventually found them to be helpful. Well, that and the Zoloft prescription. The attacks slowly drifted off in frequency and when they did come, she had learned strategies to help her regain control.

Not wanting the Doctor to see her break down - for more reasons than that it would make him start asking questions - she now used these calming strategies to bring her back from the edge. She continued with her deep breaths, holding each to the count of three and focused on slowing her heart rate, relaxing her muscles, and loosening the heaviness she felt in her chest. Over the course of several minutes, she got through the worst of it. She was still faced with a highly undesirable and slightly hopeless looking situation, but at least she didn't feel like she was actively dying.

She washed her face, scrubbing at whatever makeup she hadn't sweated off during the…the _session_. The word torture ran through her head a few times but she refused it as being too dramatic. So she got shocked a few times…she'd been through much worse, and she was far more concerned about the verbal aspect of her session with Madame than the physical one. As Rose thought back to what that woman wanted her to do, what the ultimate plans were for the Doctor, Rose had to use every bit of her strength not to sink back into the panic she had just eased out of. She dried off her face and sat down on the tiled floor, maintaining the deep breathing the whole time. She needed to think this through and she needed to do so without loosing it.

The first wave of thought, of course, largely centered around all the things she wished she would have said and all the questions she wish she would have asked. Hindsight being 20/20 and all that. Madame Eyepatch had seemed surprisingly willing to answer her inquiries and Rose felt like she now had hundreds more.

It still seemed that their hosts were going about this whole operation in the strangest way. They wanted to kill the Doctor. As far as she could tell, he was kind of at their mercy already. What was stopping them from barging into the room and shooting him until his regenerations ran out? (Or any other number of things she would rather not think about?) If Madame needed a Time Baby so badly, why hadn't they just made one in a lab. Aunt Mo's twins had been a product of in vitro fertilization and that was with mere twenty-first century technology. Surely the people fighting this supposed war against the Doctor were centuries more advanced than that. Why were her and the Doctor being forced to play out these parts when it could all be done quickly and cleanly? Not that she wanted that. God no. Madame stringing all this out gave her and the Doctor more chances to get themselves out of this mess. And according to the Doctor, they still had hope. Undefined hope, but still…

Rose doubted that Madame would leave her alone for long so she pushed these unanswered questions aside for the next session. Right now Rose had the more pressing matter of what to tell the Doctor who was waiting for her to explain something she could never, ever tell him. So, she needed to come up with something else. And since he was him and he knew her so well, it had to be so good that she would have to nearly believe it herself. She took a few more minutes solidifying her story, washed her face one more time for good measure and then headed out to ease the fears of the anxious Time Lord. At least one of them shouldn't be consumed with worry.

She found him sitting on the bed next to a plate heaped with cold breakfast food. It didn't escape her notice that it was full of her favorites. She couldn't imagine what he had gone through being trapped in the room alone once again after they'd taken her, and yet he'd still done something so thoughtful just for her. She smiled at him tentatively and tried to look somewhat embarrassed instead of nervous before sitting next to him where he perched cross-legged on the bed.

"You saved me some breakfast," she commented with a smile that was a little wider, even felt a little more genuine.

"Course," he smiled back and she relaxed the tiniest bit. She took a breath and as much as it pained her to do so, she lied to him.

"'M sorry Doctor. I kinda overreacted there. You're right, I just really want to get out of here. You, me, and the Tardis. We have so much to get back to. I don't blame you for worryin'. I was half mad wonderin' if they had hurt you, if you were ok. God, I was even worryin' about you worryin' about me," she laughed. "But all they did was talk. It was that Madame Eyepatch lady and one of her lackeys. They just sat me down - restrained of course - and asked me a bunch of mad questions, most of which I didn't know the answer to. That's all." She reached over to grab his hand while offering him a reassuring smile.

The Doctor returned her grasp, but furrowed his brow, "What kind of questions?"

"Oh, I don't even think I understood most of 'em enough to remember them," she forced a chuckle. "Stuff like what your name was, like um, your real name," Rose didn't know if he had a name other than the Doctor, but figured it was a reasonable question someone could bring up -she herself had wondered about the mystery many times since he had come into her life, "And how long Time Lords live and then a whole bunch of stuff that sounded kind of like it could be physics but it was nothing I've ever studied. Don't think I can really remember a single word except the ones I already know like vortex and, um, causality loop, and stuff. Sorry," she shrugged and arranged her features to look apologetic, "wish I could remember more."

"No, no. It's alright," the Doctor assured her, much of his tension easing, "Sounds like they're scientist more than anything. Going about things in a rather violent and extreme manner, but I suppose that's not unprecedented. And interested in Time Lords! Well I suppose that explains why they nabbed me. Not exactly many other specimens to study these days. But what do they want with you? Their idea of how to keep their specimen happy by giving him his Rose?"

Rose smiled at his affectionate joke but didn't quite manage to laugh as she tried to come up with something plausible that didn't have anything to do with getting knocked up. "Er…oh! I forgot to mention. They also asked me about Bad Wolf." She tried to ignore the Doctor's sharp intake of breath at those words, "But I just told them that all that was a long time ago. Haven't seen those words in years. And you had told me that whatever I did that day, whatever I became, was only temporary, so I'm probably not going to be all that interesting to them. They had run some tests on me while I was out from the tranquilizer darts and I guess the results confirmed that. They moved on pretty quickly to interrogating me about you. Guess I'm a bit of a disappointment." She chuckled again.

"How could they know about Bad Wolf?" the Doctor's voice was tense. _Oh. Right. That little thing wasn't exactly common knowledge._ Rose herself didn't even fully understand what went on that day.

"Er, I talked about it a bit at Torchwood, wrote it up for their records at Pete's request. Didn't think it would hurt anything if I kept the details general and left out that I was the one who went all glowy. Madame said she did research on us so…She could have figured it out, I guess." Rose felt embolden by being able to work in a grain of truth. "She must have hacked into the files and read about it. If I ever get back, I should warn Pete about the security breach." Rose wondered at the odds of ever seeing her family again. Sure, the Doctor and she would probably escape eventually, but probably to their original universe, not Pete's World. She tried not to think about what that would mean for them, or herself.

"Blimey," the Doctor sighed running a hand through his hair and bringing Rose back to their current discussion, "They'll probably be coming for me next. Good thing too. I want my fragile human off their radar. Now's a very good time to be boring, Rose Tyler." He waggled his finger at her.

"Fragile?" she challenged him with a mock scowl, eager to change the subject and lighten the mood with their familiar banter.

"Weeellll, relatively fragile. I mean compared to the residents of Broughlilth - they're all made of solid sentient rock you know. Or the giants of Yandor Falls, or Cybermen, or stone angels, or…"

"Or Time Lords?" Rose asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Right! Or Time Lords. It's all relative, Rose. For a human, you're perfectly tough." He said it like he was bestowing a great honor on her.

"So then if I'm only tough for a human, then what would that make the Time Lord who continuously loses to me at thumb wars?"

"Oi! You are a cheat and you know it, Rose Tyler!"

Rose giggled and finally nothing about it was forced. "If that's what you need to believe, be my guest." Rose bit her tongue an smiled at him. He opened his mouth to reply but she beat him to it, "Anyway, oh great and powerful alien, what's for breakie. I'm starved."


	20. Chapter 20

The Doctor basked in Rose's delight of the breakfast he'd saved them. It was cold and slightly soggy, and he had forgotten to save them silverware, but she happily dug in using her hands and thanked him again for being so thoughtful. Right now he couldn't give her adventure, wonder, and all of time and space, but if he could still make her face light up like that, he reckoned they'd be ok. They chatted about light and silly things, giggling and fighting over the last sausage link (they ended up splitting it in half and sharing.) It was almost enough for the Doctor to forget that Rose was keeping something from him.

There was just something off about how she had acted when she got back and the neat explanation of what happened while she was away. He had thought she knew she could trust him with anything. Then again, he supposed that should be a two-way street. Just as he knew she was holding back from him, he was sure she had known that he had left a lot out when he was telling her his stories of adventure the day before. _In time._ He told himself. The ease and trust in each other would come back in time. For now, it appeared that their hosts had no immediate harm planned for either of them and that brought him a certain amount of peace. There may be some uncomfortable tests in his future as their captor's lab specimen, but he would happily endure as long as their focus stayed away from Rose.

After they had stuffed themselves full, he checked out the burn on Rose's back, secretly also wanting to check for any new injuries she may be hiding, and found her skin miraculously healed and smooth. He'd marveled, but Rose just shrugged and muttered something about one less thing to worry about. Well maybe for her. Healing that fast…well that certainly wasn't a 21st century human trait as far as he knew. And he tended to know these things. Tended to be an expert, in fact. He wished he had access to the TARDIS right now to run a few tests. At the very least, he wanted to question Rose about the anomaly, but his attempts were mostly rebuffed as an increasingly grumpy Rose seemed much more interested in a nap than answering more strange questions. He supposed she'd already had enough of that type of thing today. She did assure him this was an isolated incident of accelerated healing, so he'd let it go for now and let her get some rest.

Hearing her soft, even breathing calmed him and he took a few minutes just to watch her sleep. Oh, she was so beautiful. With each quiet puff of her breath, the tension in him loosened slightly until he felt nearly peaceful. How was it that she could always do that to him - help an old, scarred man find peace? He brushed back a lock of hair that had fallen across her face as she shifted in her sleep, and her mouth tilted up into a small smile before relaxing back into whatever dream held her. He took in the moment, cataloging the memory so he could think back on it in difficult times. She wouldn't always be beside him, that was a cruel inevitability he didn't like to dwell on now that they were given a second chance, but if he did things right, lived a fantastic life for her forever, memories like this would still bring him peace long after she was gone. One day, he hoped he would be able to tell her how much that meant to him, how much _she_ meant to him.

He could have watched her sleep forever, but eventually decided to have a go at the new electronics while Rose finished her kip. The calm from earlier gradually evaporated when he found the locks and force fields around the new devices were utterly impenetrable, even to him. After a half hour with the blasted things, he had devolved to smacking the side of the space-radio and cursing colorfully in at least twelve different languages.

"Oi!" he spun around at the grumpy voice coming from a sleepy and slightly disheveled looking Rose, "You're making it extremely difficult to nap over here."

"Err…sorry," he mumbled, "But to be fair, you've already gotten plenty of sleep. Nine hours last night! That means, lazy bones, that your napping is a luxury. So c'mon! Up with you! We're wasting good daylight here!"

Rose looked meaningfully around at the windowless room with raised eyebrows, "Ah yes, can't waste the abstraction of daytime. And here I was thinking that you woke me up because you were throwing a tantrum."

"Time Lords do NOT throw tantrums!" he said crossing his arms and definitely not sticking his bottom lip out in a pout. He held her challenging gaze for several long moments before breaking, "It's just that these bloody things -" he thunked at the entertainment system - "are triple deadlock sealed and wrapped in two, TWO impenetrable force fields! Two Rose! Who does that?!"

"So you can't make the thingy?" Rose's glare turned into a look of concern.

"If you mean the genius devices that were going to break the seals of the vent cover and allow our escape, then no, I can't make the thingy," he was genuinely pouting then, more put out than sharing Rose's feelings of deep concern. They'd figure something else out, but it may not be quite as…cool.

"Alright," she yawned, "So plan B then?"

The Doctor snorted, "Think it's more like plan K at this point."

"Well, do we have a plan K then?"

"Not as such," he sighed.

"Bollocks."

"Yep," he popped the P.

"Doctor, what are we going to do?" he almost thought he heard tears in her voice and went over to sit on the bed beside her.

"I…I don't know. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, but I don't know. Fresh out of ideas, me." He hated that he didn't have all the answers she needed and he hated even more to admit it.

She was quiet for a long time, face morphing through a range of emotions he couldn't read until she settled on a look of grim acceptance. She leaned into his side, wrapping her arms to hug one of his and laying her head on his shoulder. "Ok."

"Ok?! What do you mean ok!?" she had spent the better part of the morning seeming so desperate to figure a way out of here and now she was just accepting defeat. He needed her to help him think, convince him to keep trying, ask all the right questions and all that.

"I mean what I said. O-K," she enunciated each syllable as if he were thick. The look he gave her was no less than incredulous.

"Listen," she continued, "M not givin' up, yeah. But what good is it gunna do…us stressin' out and - and assaulting televisions -"

"Oi! That was the space-radio I was assaulting! Thankyouvermuch!"

"Whatever. Assaulting radios then. What good is that gunna do us? You've got that impressive, multi-tasking Time Lord brain you're always bragging about, so keep thinking about ideas, yeah, but in the meantime, let's just…be. You and me. We were never supposed to have this time together, so whatever happens…well I just want to enjoy what we have right now."

That tugging sensation that she knew more than she was letting on was back, but he didn't know what to do about it. And what she said made sense in that beautiful human-y way of hers. He supposed that it was reasonable that after years of fighting and searching, she was willing to take a bit of a break now that they were together.

"Alright," he gave in nuzzling into her vanilla scented hair.

"Yeah?"

"Yep," he used the hand of the arm she wasn't currently wrapped around to raise her chin allowing him to cover her lips with his own. She sighed into the kiss and he felt layers of tension melt off of her with each brush of lips, each caress as their tongues mingled. Quite without his knowledge or permission, they somehow ended up laying down and tangled around each other several minutes later. He broke the kiss off, wanting to respect her boundaries and brought a hand up to caress her face as they both caught their breath. As his thumb brushed across her temple he had an idea. He wasn't sure if she would like it, talk about crossing boundaries, but they needed a more private way to communicate. He continued to stroke her face, but centered his ministrations around her temple. Slowly, he pushed into the very edge of her mind.

"_Rose?" _He asked timidly in her mind at the equivalent of a spoken whisper.

She started, her eyes going wide, "Doctor!? What the -"

"_Shhhh. Just listen a second. Er well, mind listen, I suppose." _He huffed at the frustrating limitations of the English language. "_Yes, we're connected telepathically." _She opened her mouth and he rushed to explain before she could give them away. "_Don't say anything out loud. They can hear you. You were right, remember. We're being watched, and quite possibly listened to."_

"_But they can't here us in here?" _It was the Doctors turn to start as Rose brought her hand up to his temple and then was projecting into his mind.

"_Blimey! I didn't know you could do that! I'd thought it'd take days to teach you how!" _

Rose giggled through their link while pretending to doze off again outwardly. Oh, she was brilliant, his Rose.

"_Neither did I! It's sort of…nice. I like having you in here. We should have done this before."_

"_I didn't think you'd want to," _he admitted. "_I only initiated the link out of necessity. Thought you'd be furious at me."_

Rose hummed, "_No, it's nice. And rather handy in our current situation. But you can't - you can't read my mind or anything, right? I mean, I can't read yours. I just sorta…feel ya. In the back of my head. Other than that, it's like talking."_

"_Correct in one! Right now we just have a very shallow link. Enough to project speech and the telepathic equivalent of facial expressions and inflections."_

"_And if it wasn't so shallow?"_

"_Then we could share feelings, images, memories…theoretically anyway. Never really explored too much with a human before."_

"_Hmmm may be nice someday, yeah. I mean not now. But would you ever, um, want to?"_

The Doctor was glad the link wasn't deep enough for her to see the flood of emotions that washed through him at her question. Want to? Rassilon, that was an understatement! One of the reasons he'd avoided physical intimacy with her before was that he didn't think he could hold himself back mentally if they were connected…well, in other ways. And with that level of telepathic connection, they would share everything. He could never force that on her. But if she wanted…

"_Oh yes!" _He cringed slightly at how eager that came through. "_I mean, we'd have to talk about it. I wouldn't do it unless you really knew what you were asking. But yeah, someday I'd like that. With you." _

"_Its a date." _He could feel Rose's smile through the link. "_And in the meantime, I'm glad we have a way to talk that's just us. But won't they get suspicious if we're always touching each other's temples?"_

"_Oh right. Let me try something." _He slowly eased his hand away from where it had rested against her face and tugged at her hand that was resting on his own temple. He laced their fingers and brought their entwined hands down to rest in the space between them.

"_Can you hear me now?" _He asked.

"_Yep! Brilliant! So do we just have to be touching for this to work then?" _

"_It would appear so. I honestly didn't know if it would work without contact with each other's temples, but you seemed to take to the connection so easily…Anyway, we do have to be touching, skin to skin, but it should seem much more natural since we've shown ourselves to be rather touchy anyway." _He trailed his hand up her arm, eliciting goosebumps in it's wake to illustrate his point. Or at least he told himself it was to illustrate the point.

"_Don't distract me," _Rose giggled but there was suppressed heat behind her words. "_So now that that's all settled, you have anything on the agenda with this particular telepathic conference call?"_

"_Nope. Just trying things out. Good to know we have the option, yeah. I'm going to pretend to wake you up now. Act sleepy."_

Rose sent one last giggle through the link before he lifted his hand and the connection lapsed.

"Rose," he whispered, "Wake up. No more napping for the sleepy human today."

He smiled to see her play up the part by snuggling further into her pillow and grumbling.

"Rooooo-oooose. Wakey wakey. If you don't wake up, I'm going to get bored, and in this very much not bigger on the inside room, I don't think you want that," he teased, raising the volume of his voice.

Rose cracked an eye open and harrumphed a, "Fine!" before stretching and easing herself up to a sitting position.

"How long was I out?" she yawned.

"Eh, not long, just a few minutes. You're lucky you're cute when you sleep, otherwise I'd have woken you up sooner. Probably never let you sleep at all, really."

"And deal with me when I'm sleep deprived? I don't think even you are that brave," she chuckled.

"Good point," he admitted. "So, now that we decided to ease up on hopeless escape plans, what did you have in mind?"

"Weeelll…we were in the middle of that Rome show when I left. Reckon this fancy TV gets HBO? Oh! And I saw the seventh Harry Potter book in the book stacks by the entertainment center! The Deathly Hallows! Sounds spooky!" she wiggled her fingers under her chin, "I've been dying to read it, but the publications are a few years behind in Pete's world."

"Oooo Harry Potter!" the Doctor crowed, "I can't believe you haven't read it. Oh Rose, you are going to sob your eyes out! The part where -"

She threw a pillow at him, "Oi! No spoilers! Harry Potter it is then. You gunna read to me with all the voices acted out like before?"

"Of course! That's the proper way to take in the story, after all. Shakespeare you have to see performed, and Harry Potter has to be read with all the voices acted out. It's a fact of the universe…well all universes…well all universes that have Harry Potter and Shakespeare, I suppose."

During his brief ramble Rose had scrambled over to the book shelf and back, placing the book expectantly in his lap. "Well, go on then! I've been waiting forever for this!"

The Doctor leaned against the headboard and Rose snuggled into his side so she could read along. "_So have I." _He sent a brief message through the link when their arms brushed against each other as they got settled. They both knew he wasn't just talking about the book.

She beamed up at him as he turned to the first page.


	21. Chapter 21

The next few days followed a pattern similar to when they'd been traveling together and spent down time in the Tardis. They would read, watch telly - turned out the set in their room didn't get Earth HBO, but was well stocked with plenty of other channels and movies - spend hours talking over meals, and filled the air with playful banter. The only difference was the frequent snogging and the Doctor more openly showing his affections. Well, that and Rose's constant nagging anxiety about their situation. She much preferred the former.

When they had discussed their options for "plan K" or rather their lack of options for "plan K,", Rose had come to a decision. As she saw it, there were only a handful of ways things could end up for them and very few of those options left both her and the Doctor alive, together, and safe. Rose had learned the hard way that sometimes life could spiral out of control around her. When that happened the only thing that she _could_ control was how she handled it. Now, more than ever, she saw the Doctor and her time together as being borrowed and finite. As she had told him, she wanted to just enjoy whatever they had left. Then again, the theory and practice were two very separate things. She learned that the hard way too.

Still, she tried. For herself and for her Doctor, who could never know why they were really trapped here. She even succeeded now and then, getting lost in a book, a funny anecdote the Doctor spun off into, or the daily rhythm of teasing over tea, sleeping and waking in his arms. She couldn't help the nightmares that started to pop up, but was able to easily brush those off as having come from the things she saw working for Torchwood when the Doctor asked. Sometimes that wasn't even a lie. It didn't help that they both were going barmy being cooped up for so long. Rose had experience dealing with tedium, but she didn't think the Doctor's life had prepared him to sit still for any length of time. At least they had each other as a constant distraction and support. She thought that she may put that space-radio to good use and teach him how to dance as their next boredom buster.

When the soldiers stormed the room for the second time, she could tell that the Doctor thought they were coming for him. He had kissed her hair when they'd heard the sound of approaching boots and told her not to worry and that he would be fine and to go ahead and have lunch without him, just save him a banana or two. But as she knew they would, the soldiers went straight for her again. She thought the look on the Doctors face when he realized they hadn't come for him could have been comical in another context. But as it was, his surprise mixed with desperation tugged at her rapidly beating heart. She used her last moments of consciousness to offer back the same reassurances he had given her moments before.

As long as it was up to her, she would always come back to him.

She woke up groggy and strapped to the same metal table as before. Handsy was the only one in the room and he wasted no time waking her up the rest of the way with a few rounds of shocks that left her gasping an aching. It must have been his lucky day because he appeared to have full reign with her. This included using his toy, the humming sparking cylinder Rose had feared last time. And she had been right to fear it. When he used that, jabbing her in the ribs, arms, and legs, she could no longer hold in her screams. The pain was beyond nearly anything Rose had experienced. Her body twisted and writhed against the restraints as she howled, no longer in any sort of control of her actions. Not that she could even spare a thought for things like resolve and dignity when her whole world was white hot agony. In a few brief moments of lucidity she spared a thought for how glad she was that the Doctor was not here having to watch this, or worse, having to undergo the shocks himself. Rose couldn't tell how much time was passing, but eventually Handsy let up for long enough that she could collect her thoughts and get a few words out. Maybe he was done for today. Maybe not. Either way there was so much she needed to know and the woman who could give her answers was absent.

"Where's your boss?" she rasped between panted breaths.

"That's not you concern," Handsy spoke in that chillingly high voice.

"You keep glancing back to the camera in the corner over there so I know she's watching," Rose told him defiantly. And then louder to the camera, "Oi! Madame! I have a complaint about these accommodations. Fancy coming out from behind the camera for a chat?"

Handsy just laughed, "Not today luv."

"I'm not your luv you psychotic creep who has to tie a girl up before he can -AAAAAHHHHHHH!" The last part was obscured in her scream as Handsy went back to work. The pain went on and on until Rose could barely tell when she was actively being shocked and when she was being given a brief reprieve. Surely she wouldn't survive this. No could possibly survive this. But she did.

Rose was barely conscious by the time a voice came over what must have been a speaker somewhere behind her. "Alright Mr. Bright I think that's enough for today." It was Madame. Apparently she wasn't going to make an appearance this time. Rose wondered if that lent to weakness or indifference.

Handsy, Rose refused to even think of him as having a proper name, reluctantly turned off his toy and ended the session with an injection as he had done before. That first time, she had been sure that the shot would bring with it the same unconsciousness as the darts from earlier, but it hadn't seemed to effect her in any way that she could tell. She had just been left on the table to recover. Rose wouldn't have minded a bit of unconsciousness now though. It took her far longer to recover this time, which she supposed made sense with the higher intensity of the torture. She no longer had any qualms about using that word for what they were doing to her. She let out a raspy scream in frustration and struggled against her restraints. She wasn't used to feeling so helpless. But the efforts quickly exhausted her and she went back to laying still. The sooner she regained her strength, the sooner they would let her go back to her Doctor. She hoped. She filled the idle time thinking of him to keep the dark thoughts at bay.

By the time a new set of guards stomped into the room to release her from the table and escort her back to her room, she had caught her breath and any residual pain had faded to a dull background ache. She checked herself and it appeared that there were still no burn marks or any outward evidence that would hint at what she had just been through. Good. One less thing she would have to hide from the Doctor.

When she got back, the Doctor greeted her with a tight embrace and a deep sigh of relief, "Oh Rose, I was so worried! It should have been me this time. Why didn't they take me?"

"Dunno. But I'm fine," she pulled back to show him a reassuring smile, "Just more mad questions. Oh and they had me work on puzzles this time. I was rubbish at them though." She thought that was a nice touch to her lie.

She managed to once again evade most of his questions and change the subject shortly after. She was exhausted, but fought the feeling, not wanting him to suspect anything. Well, nothing more than he already did. The looks he would give her sometimes make her think he could see right through her. She was just going to have to get better at lying. She shivered at the thought. All she wanted in the world was to get closer to him, but their situation forced her to continuously pull away. It was unfair, but Rose knew that the universe didn't operate in terms of fair. So she'd better suck it up and make the best of what she had.

She was taken away for the next session just three days later. A week passed before the one after that and the next three were only two days apart. The varied time between sessions was keeping her constantly on edge and she was sure the Doctor was starting to notice how jumpy she was getting. The sessions themselves were getting worse. They were longer and Handsy found some new toys he enjoyed trying out on her. Still, nothing left a mark. She would be returned to her Doctor with just some fatigue, general aches, and fodder for future nightmares. She could tell Madame was still overseeing the sessions, though Rose never saw her. If the camera and voice over the speaker ending each session weren't clues, the barely contained restraint in Handsy's eyes told her that he was being held back. Perhaps he had some remotely activated electrodes on his own body. Rose just hoped there would never come a time when he was left fully unsupervised with her. She remembered his wandering hands.

When she woke up in the dim room for the seventh time, she was surprised to see Madame standing a few feet away. Rose wasted no time giving voice to the burning questions she'd been harboring. The Doctor had gotten them out of plenty of situations with just his gob and maybe if she had a better idea of what was going on, she could fill his shoes this time. She took a deep breath, knowing from his example that the key was to keep talking as long as possible.

"Bout time you joined us," Rose growled. "Since you were so accommodating before, how about you tell me what's going on. You said you wanted to end a war by killing the Doctor. What war? If it really is so bad, you would think I, or at least, you know, the Doctor would have heard about it. Since he's supposedly leading the fight and all. Why do you want to kill him? How could you possibly think that killing him would make anything better. He tends to ere on the side of stopping and preventing wars, you know. Did you ever think that maybe he would be on your side if you just talked to him? And why do you need a Time Lord to…" Rose had to swallow before she could continue, "to kill him? Or part Time Lord or whatever? It seems there would be easier way, yeah.? And if you need a kid to corrupt, why are you playing this game with me? I'm assuming you have a lab. Just grow a kid, and leave us alone. We'll go on our merry way and leave you to fight this imaginary war of yours." Rose could sense her own desperation if she was willing to even lie about her and the Doctor just walking away from something that needed being put to rights. It was very underhanded of her and the weakness scared her even more than the prospect of an unsupervised visit with Handsy. This was no time to be weak.

Madame smirked and took her time replying. "It's commendable that you've kept your spirit, Ms. Tyler. Oh, we'll sort that eventually, but I think my associate is having quite bit of fun with you in the meantime. Keeps him occupied. Gives him something to look forward to. Makes him less likely to stir up trouble. And the trouble this one gets into," the older woman laughed, "He was slated to be executed before I found a use for him. You saved his life, Ms. Tyler." Rose heard Handsy giggle from somewhere out of her line of sight. It made her stomach roll. Or was that the lingering effects of the sedative?

Rose reigned in the nausea as the older woman continued to speak, "In answer to your questions, let's start with the fact that you beloved saintly Doctor is hell bent on starting the next Great Time War."

"That's a lie!" Rose yelled with complete conviction, though admittedly it came out more manic than she had intended. Filling the Doctor's shoes indeed. But how could this woman think for even a second the Doctor would do anything but use all his resources to prevent such a thing from happening. Rose held him through enough nightmares to know the last Time War still haunted him. And likely always would.

"Your loyalty is adorable." Madame smirked, "But oh so misplaced. As for why we need his child to end him, well lets just say that I am not one to meddle with prophecy and fixed points in time. It has to be a Time Lord and this time it will be _his_ Time Lord. The poetry of it all doesn't hurt either." Rose felt ice form in her stomach. This woman couldn't possibly mean the Doctor's death was a fixed point - that preventing it would lead to reapers...or worse. Maybe it was just that if the Doctor was killed, it had to be by a Time Lord? That would be better. Good even, considering he was the only one left. Rose wished she had a better grasp on the complexities of time. The Doctor would understand what Madame was talking about far better than she could. Not that she could ask him about all this.

Madame continued, "There are few ways this war can end and believe me this is the most painless. Well, perhaps not for you, but there is always collateral damage in war, isn't there?"

Rose glared at the mad woman but kept silent in the hopes that Madame would continue talking. Rose could finish sorting through the information later.

"Which brings me to your involvement. Or rather any compatible female - remember you're nothing special, dear. Perhaps that's a question you should ask the Doctor himself. I suppose it depends on how much you want answers Ms. Tyler. Speaking of which, this has cost you," Madame turned to where Rose imagined Handsy was waiting just behind her, "I think moving it up to .4 would be sufficient." Rose heard a dial being clicked to a new setting. She only had a few seconds of anxiety about what that would mean before she was taken over by a wave of pain somehow even worse than what she had experienced before. If Madame said anything more, it was drowned out by Rose's screams.

After that session, Rose was left with angry blisters around her chest and abdomen. It took her nearly two hours before she was recovered enough to make the walk back to the room. It wasn't a coincidence that the next day the first chink in her armor appeared. It was just a simple question, more than a reasonable thing to ask since the Doctor thought she spent the sessions being grilled about Time Lord trivia. But she saw it for what it was. It was the begging of the end of her strength. She just hoped that they'd find a way out of here before there was nothing left of her to protect him.


	22. Chapter 22

Though Rose was taken away for the interrogations frequently, the Doctor never got used to the routine. Her absences still sent him into waves of anxiety every second she was at the mercy of people who showed little of that particular quality. And he would have to admit to being a bit clingy once she returned, though she didn't seem to mind. At least not at first. The same routine repeated over the course of the next month with the sessions becoming more frequent and increasing in duration.

When Rose and the Doctor were together, they finished The Deathly Hallows - he was surprised that Rose didn't shed a single tear - and decided to reread the series from the beginning and marathon the movies. There were several advanced physics books that went beyond what Rose had studied at university and they both enjoyed the times when he would tutor her on the difficult concepts. Underlying it all, his worry was steadily nurtured along by her punctuated absences, their lack of freedom, and the steadily deepening circles under Rose's eyes.

Initially, Rose had come back from each session seeming irritated at the interruption and just happy to be back with him. But as the days and weeks wore on, she began returning exhausted, dozing into a nap as soon as she got back. For all the weight he was regaining, she was losing. She'd become jumpy and woke with nightmares she wouldn't tell him about. She still appeared to be physically fine, but he was sure that the sessions were somehow traumatic for her. He couldn't imagine her odd behavior as coming simply from being trapped. He was desperate to know what happened when she was taken away, but any time he asked her, it was like all the trust they had built over their time together evaporated and she shut down, feeding him the interrogation explanation.

The first time he had any additional insight from her, came in the form of a seemingly random question. She had paused with a bit of lunch halfway to her mouth and asked, "What were you like as a kid?" He looked up from his meal, startled at the question. She continued hurriedly, "I mean, I'm assuming you were a kid once, yeah? You lot didn't just pop out of a lab fully formed or anything, did you?" He had been anticipating questions about the Time Lord aspects of his life, what with all the interrogating she was going through. In fact, he was surprised it took her this long for her to voice her own questions. Just because he had anticipated it, didn't mean it was any easier to address. Even benign questions about his past made him sort through memories he'd rather keep behind figurative locked doors. Somehow, any thought about his past inevitably led to the Time War and his many losses over the years. But, he reminded himself with a fortifying breath, trust worked both ways. He couldn't expect openness from Rose if he shut down at her first personal question. "Er…yes," he began hesitantly, "As in, yes I was a kid once. Long time ago. Long, long time ago."

Rose stared at him expectantly. Right, that was an answer to only one of her questions. He didn't think it escaped her notice that it was the easiest to answer. "And I suppose I was similar to how I am in the present, particularly in this regeneration, now that I think about it. A bit more repressed, of course. Product of Gallifreyan society. You think those kids were kept in check when we visited the Puritans, but oo-hoo that's nothing to childhood for future Time Lords. Not every Gallifreyan could be a Time Lord, see. It used to be a matter of choice but then a new president came to power and he wanted to make it more like the title it sounded. There was very fierce competition to enter the ranks, so training for the Academy entrance trials started at birth. I rebelled from the beginning, but my tutor was brilliant and figured out possibly the only thing that could keep me in line, keep me motivated."

"What was that then?" Rose asked, forgetting her meal as she listened.

The Doctor smiled, "She bribed a friend and got me a ride in a TARDIS. I saw the stars and…that was it for me. I knew I would put up with all the high society rubbish to get back out there someday. Even if it took centuries…which it did, of course."

"Blimey. I can't picture you stuck in one place for that long, let alone following all the rules. And for centuries? Are you sure you aren't having me on?" Rose teased.

"Weeellll, I didn't follow _all_ the rules. I was a…well somewhat of a prodigy, I suppose. Never figured out what for exactly. I barely passed my classes and was always rubbish at keeping to etiquette. There were so many rules, after all. And my best mate was…weeeeellllll not the best of influences. And that's putting it mildly," he laughed but there was darkness and regret behind it he hoped she didn't notice. "But when Time Tots enter the Academy, they go through this sort of…initiation I guess you could call it. The Tots look into the Untempered Schism and gain the beginnings of their Time Lord abilities…blah blah blah," he waved his hand, "It'd be tedious if I told you all the mucky details, but the actual experience was utterly terrifying. Or at least to me, it was. I took one look into the schism and ran as fast and as far as I could. But the Time Lord leaders watch the initiation carefully and I must have done something right because they took a special interest in me afterwards. It's the only way I can imagine they didn't kick me out of the Academy over the next two centuries of study."

Rose hummed, "Explains a lot about you actually," she said absently. Then she paused and her eyes widened, "But wait. TWO CENTURIES!? You were in school for two bloody centuries!? That's…that's barbaric!"

The Doctor shrugged, "We're long lived, Rose. For most of us…well, before the War…anyway, it was just a small fraction of our lives. What's two centuries out of dozens? The oldest Time Lords were well into their 7,000's. And there was so much to learn! Written Gallifreyan alone took decades to master. And before we could even think of time travel, we had to hone our time sense by having a firm grasp on mathematics and physical theories the human mind could never hope to comprehend, no offense. But anyway…don't want to bore you with all that. Can I ask what brought this up? Is it the interrogations? I still don't understand why they don't just ask me. Seems more efficient."

He looked up at Rose and was surprised at how uncomfortable she looked. He was the one who just opened up to her. Did something he say upset her? Was he too…alien?

"Umm…yeah. Yeah, I guess. I can't answer their questions, and it made me realize how little I…umm how little I know about you. And what your people were like. I just thought…if you ever wanted to tell me…things, you can. And um…I'll listen. But if it makes you uncomfortable, we don't have to -"

"Rose it's fine," he said reaching across the table to still her hands that were unconsciously wringing the cloth napkin. "It's not easy. I don't usually know where to begin, but…I want to tell you things. If you want to know, I want to tell you. And it means a lot to me that you do want to know. So, I guess, is there anything else? Since we're on the topic."

Rose seemed to have a debate waring inside of her based on the look on her face. "Uh, well, not at the moment. But I'm sure things will come up…"

The Doctor hoped she didn't notice when he let out a relieved breath. He went back to his meal and was about to change the subject to fill the somewhat awkward silence when she blurted, "How did Time Lords reproduce?"

She took a breath and looked horrified at herself, "No, I'm sorry. Don't answer that. It's not important."

The Doctor chuckled. Of all the things she could ask about his life, this was far from the most difficult to speak about. He decided to have some fun with her. She'd been far too tense lately and he missed her genuine laughter, "Now that's an interesting question, Rose Tyler. When a mature Time Lord or Lady wants a child, they would wish really, really hard and go lay and egg in the garden and bury it like a seed. Then a TARDIS would fly over, there were always TARDIS zooming about so it was inevitable, and as soon as the seed was touched by the TARDIS shadow, BOOM instant baby Time Lord. One parent would be a TARDIS and the other would be a Time Lord…or Lady. Of course, sometimes things went wrong and they'd sprout up looking like miniature blue police boxes…"

"Oi!" Rose stopped him, "You nutter, you're having me on!" He ducked the roll she threw at him and welcomed the assault as it was well worth the smile that lit up her face. Not quite laughter, but close. With her smiling like that she almost looked like her old self again.

"Eh, you caught me," he relented, grinning widely back at her, "Actually depending on what time period you were asking about, it would have been pretty similar to humans. Course then there was some meddling and widespread infertility and we turned to the looms for procreation. They were organic, kind of like TARDIS coral, almost like a beehive, actually."

Rose folded her arms and raised her eyebrows.

"Hey! I'm serious this time! Gallifreyans, Time Lord is a title not a race by the way, couldn't be created or grown in labs, well not entirely. We'd figured out how to create all kinds of life that way, but not our own people. We almost had died out by the time the whole looming thing was figured out. For some reason we needed that organic aspect to it, and as far as I know, the elements needed could only be mined on Gallifrey. That's why I'm half human."

Rose blanched.

"Oh surely I must have mentioned before? No? Oh, well surprise then!" he chuckled awkwardly, "Anyway, at the time I was born they still hadn't figured out looming, so mature Gallifreyans had to turn to cross-breeding to prevent extinction. I was at the tail end of all that though. And once the looming was figured out, the whole purity and regulated access to education started. The President made everyone worried that us half-breeds were polluting the gene pool which was rubbish because Gallifreyan genes were always dominant. They take over early on in gestation, around the time that the brain starts developing. Not that it would have been such a bad thing to mix it up a little. Works for humans, eh?" Oh, perhaps he shouldn't have added that last part. Rose was human and she may take it to mean…not that he wouldn't want to…someday… wait, why was she asking about reproduction anyway?

"Wow. Um. Wow. That's a lot to learn in a couple minutes," was all Rose said. He would have expected her to be happy that he was starting to finally open up to her, or perhaps flustered by the _mixing it up_ thing, but she instead looked completely closed off.

"Er…yeah, I suppose. Sorry, too much? I seem to only have stop and go dials on this gob of mine." He scratched the back of his neck and tried to look contrite.

"No. Well it's a lot, but um, thanks for explaining it all to me. Or rather some of it dumbed down for the silly ape to understand," she smiled at the joke, but it didn't reach her eyes. Was that what this was about?

"Rose, you are brilliant. Completely brilliant. Certainly not a 'silly ape.' I'm sorry I ever said that, but even old me didn't really mean it. Time Lords could be arrogant sods with all their thoughts clouded by overlarge egos. I didn't mean to make you feel -"

"No, s'fine Doctor. That was just a joke. Apparently not a funny one. I'm just…tired. Yeah, I'm tired. Think I need a nap." She pushed back her plate that was still half full and padded over to the bed.

"Are you sure? Rose, you've been sleeping an awful lot lately. You're not sick are you? You'd tell me if you weren't feeling well right?"

Rose barked a harsh sounding laugh that wasn't like her at all before composing herself and answering, "I'm fine Doctor. I told you I'm fine, just tired. Thanks for…thanks for talking. But let's just leave it for now, yeah?" And with that she tugged the comforter over her head and curled up for yet another nap. It was already her third that day.

The Doctor was confused. Hadn't she been smiling and teasing him just minutes ago? Hadn't he just shared more with her about his people than he ever had before? So why was she retreating and pulling away? Blimey this was hard. This - this was exactly why he didn't get _involved_. He was rubbish at domestics. It was bloody confusing and would always end with both parties hurt. _Not always. Not this time_, he told himself. _Not with Rose_. He'd already tried the just friends thing and it didn't work. He needed her in a way that he was hers and she was his for whatever forever they had. And he was going to do everything in his power not to lose her - not to their captors and not because of him mucking it up. He'd try harder. That's all. She was worth it.

But try as he might, she continued to slip away from him. That conversation, the one that he'd hoped would bring them closer, had the opposite effect. Now, more than ever, he was sure there was more to the sessions then she let on. She started making any excuse to get some space from him, taking long showers, and even longer naps. He learned to leave it alone, more terrified of the distance she was placing between them than what she was hiding. Surely there was more to this. How she was acting just didn't make any sense. And even when he was on his best, non-prying behavior she still tended to pull away. She broke off their kisses before they could become proper snogs and slept far to one side of the bed instead of wrapped in his arms. It was killing him, but just like being trapped and Rose withholding things from him, he didn't have the foggiest idea of what to do about it.

One early morning, the day after she was taken for "questioning" two days in a row, she had a particularly vicious nightmare. As usual, he was at her side in a moment and swept her trembling form up in his arms. Moments like these were the only time she let him really touch her that didn't have to do with their telepathic conversations. Usually, they wouldn't speak during these episodes and he would just hold her and hum something soothing until she fell back asleep or pulled away. So he was surprised when this time he heard her quavering voice from where her head was buried in the shirt of his jim jams.

"Doctor, you'd never…you'd never force me to…"her voice strained and trailed off.

"Force you to what Rose?" he couldn't believe she was talking about the dreams. Or at least in response to them. He wondered if she was still partly asleep.

"You'd never force yourself on me, would you?"

He was horrified. Was that what her nightmares had been about? What all this had been about? Sure, he thought the tension of being trapped together and unable fully to act on their feelings was frustrating for both of them, but he never would have thought that was the reason for her skittish behavior. Where those bastards brainwashing her to fear him?!

"Rassilon Rose! Of course not! I could never…I'd NEVER hurt you like that. Never."

"Even if," she sniffed into his shirt and he realized she was crying, "even if you had to…if my, er, I mean our life depended on it?"

He brought one arm from around her back to cup her chin so he could meet her eyes. He needed her to know the truth of what he was about to say. "Of course not, Rose. I said never and I meant it. I'd find another way. Is that what these dreams are about? Do you think I can't control myself? Have I…have I done anything to make you think that? I never want you to feel unsafe around me. I couldn't bear it. Rose…" he trailed off with words tangling before they could be expressed.

Rose seemed to move more towards alertness, her eyes losing that foggy look of sleep. She shook her head as if to clear it. "No. No of course I know you'd never. M' sorry. I was just still kind of trapped in the dream."

"But have I -"

"No," she cut him off firmly. "It's nothing you've done. S' not your fault. I don't know where this is coming from." She seemed to consider something for a moment and he could tell when she continued it was back to the half-truths she had been feeding him, "It's probably the opposite. I half want to jump ya and to hell with some creepy alien watching. Guess it's more I don't trust myself. And in the dreams every time I…we…anyway, something terrible happens," after a moment she repeated her earlier assurances, "But it's fine. I'm fine. Don't know why I brought it up. Sorry."

The Doctor was far from reassured. For one thing, despite Rose seeming not to notice, she still had tears slowly leaking down her cheeks and she was trembling. He debated whether to let the tears fall unaddressed or wipe them away like he wished he could to whatever fears she was harboring. He figured he had only seconds to decide before she would pull away from him again. To his surprise, instead of retreating back to her side of the bed, she snuggled into his embrace and changed the subject as if nothing had happened, "So where's the first place we're gunna go once we get out of here? Barcelona sounds nice, of course, but I wouldn't mind a bit of running. Any governments that need overthrowing?"

The Doctor was going to get whiplash. He'd never thought Rose was one to change her moods on a switch like this. He worried that she'd learned it from him. But if talking about future adventures was what she needed right now, he'd take her lead. "I think we'd have half a dozen to choose from then. And that's only sticking to your very own galaxy. For starters there's Aqua Phi, a water planet obviously, we'll have to use scuba gear. Welllll I say scuba gear but it's really more closely related to…." He lost himself in an animated description of all the places he was going to take her. He kept talking long after she had fallen back asleep, hoping his voice would chase the nightmares away. It seemed to work because she slept peacefully for the rest of the night and woke the next morning with a small smile on her face. That day no one bothered them and it was the best one in a long time. They turned on the space-radio and taught each other the various types of dancing they knew. Turns out this body definitely had the moves. They spun around the room and he saw more of Rose giggling and smiling then he had in the last month put together. It was perfect.

With him committed to putting Rose at ease, they moved back into status quo. He still worried about her and their situation, but he kept his fears to himself. Something would come up eventually and they'd escape and put all this behind them. Focusing on this, he found them having moments of near contentment in between her sessions, despite him going slightly stir crazy. It wasn't the best life, but they were together and he was content.

Or at least he was, until the time she came back with a black eye, multiple burns, and badly bruised ribs.


	23. Chapter 23

Rose spent a long time hating herself after the first session that left her dotted with angry blisters. The evidence of abuse forced her to pull away from the Doctor physically as well as mentally. It wouldn't do to have one of the embraces she always craved leading to the Doctor brushing against a sensitive spot and her being unable to hold back a wince. And she couldn't handle the pressure of keeping her lies straight when he pressed her on what happened during the sessions. The truth was always on the tip of her tongue now. She wanted so desperately to just tell him everything and seek the comfort he would offer. But she had to protect him and she couldn't do that if they remained intimate. The part that killed her was that she knew the Doctor craved their touches and closeness as much as she did. She watched as his confusion turned into hurt over the next several days of her keeping her distance.

She had discovered quickly that any injuries inflicted on her disappeared by the next day. Her rapid healing from the burn when she was first brought here had worried the Doctor, which in turn had her worried now that it appeared to be a continuing trend. She wished she could talk to him about it. But she wished a lot of things that weren't possible right now. Instead, she wracked her brain for anything he had said back then, hoping that it would give her some idea of what she may be dealing with. The more she thought about it, the more a tantalizing theory started formulating in her mind. The valuable new insight didn't come so much from what he had said, but rather how he had said it and the emotion that had been lurking behind his eyes. When the Doctor had first discovered her accelerated healing, he had been worried, yes, but there had been something…more in his expression she hadn't really thought about at the time. Something like hope or excitement, opportunity even. Something precious enough that he hadn't put voice to it and had tried to hide it from her as soon as he realized she was looking. Now, she started to take on that hope in the same way she had adopted his worry, and the two emotions churned inside of her. If she could heal so quickly, not as a fluke, but as a trend, what would that mean for her in the long term? (Assuming she had a long term, that is.) What would that mean for her and the Doctor? Could the healing affect how she aged? It certainly had made her more hardy in the numerous times the ability had been tested recently. Was there a chance that she really could give the Doctor the forever she had promised him all those years ago? She understood why he had kept these ideas buried initially and in the weeks, or was it months, since. Such alluring thoughts were dangerous in a place like this, where hope and beings alike had to fight to stay alive. She had enough to worry about simply in keeping herself sane and protecting the Doctor.

Which brought her to the other reason she found herself still holding back from any kind of intimacy, even when her wounds had healed between sessions. The fear of what would happen if they lost themselves to passion bloomed fiercely in her any time they touched, and caused her to pull away reflexively. On one hand, she knew that they were responsible adults with sufficient amounts of self control, but on the other, any risk of things escalating was just too much with what was at stake. She wished she could tell him that she was pulling away because she loved him. She wished she could tell him that it was because she wanted him safe, her Doctor. There could never be another Time Lord or his death would become a fixed point. And as much as she didn't want kids, she had a fierce protective feeling towards the hypothetical child she now knew they could create if they didn't use protection. No child should be at the hands of that evil woman, and certainly not _their_ child. In Pete's World, she had often, quite literally had the fate of the world in her hands and had sailed through each tense situation. But now, when it was just two lives - one of them not even real - on her shoulders, she was crumpling under the pressure.

She hated herself for this too, the crumpling. It had started with the questions about Time Lord reproduction she assumed seemed innocent enough from the Doctor's perspective. But to her, it felt like the tipping point of giving in. Then, in a state of terror and half-wakefulness after a nightmare, she had showed the Doctor a fraction of her fear. And they way it came out made him think it was fear _of_ him, not _for_ him. Another thing she could never forgive herself for. But the thing that made her hate herself the most was that she knew she would eventually break. It seemed inevitable now. Her armor was unraveling and it was only a matter of time before she would be too weak to hide everything from him. And when that happened, what would he do? Would he convince her to go along with Madam's plan in order to save her life? Would she have the strength left to not give in? After all, she wanted him. She had wanted him desperately for years. It would be so easy to let go. And then they would stop hurting her…

But then, something changed after that night when she broke down in his arms. She found herself feeling stronger again, but it was not from her own stores as those were nearly exhausted. It was from him. Every night he talked to her as she slept and chased away the nightmares. She fell asleep and woke to the sound of his murmuring voice. Even when she woke in the middle of the night, he was still right beside her, talking softly about anything and everything so even in sleep she would know he was there. During the day he found little adventures to keep them amused even from within their captivity.

Without the nightmares, she didn't need as many naps, but she carried on the charade so they could have long telepathic chats. It was a type of intimacy that helped fill the void their physical distance had created. While they were at it, he was slowly teaching her more about telepathy since she took to it so well initially. He taught her how to map out her mind and send and receive little tidbits of information that went beyond speech. She was much better at the receiving then the sending, so the Doctor delighted her by sharing small clips from the best of his travels. She was now able to send the ghost of visual images to him, though only for a few seconds, but could receive whole scenes of sight and sound from him for a minute or two at a time. They would get lost in these little scenes and it was utterly brilliant. The Doctor decided to work on her receiving smell next because there was this flower from some purple planet that, "she absolutely had to smell!" She teased him that it probably just smelled like a ripe banana which had him pouting until she projected an image of them running through apple grass as an apology. It was the clearest picture yet. She could feel the Doctor beaming as he teased her affectionately that soon she would be upgraded to high definition status.

When she was properly awake and up for it, they would teach each other things. Oh, she was always learning from him in their travels - so much that it often made her head feel like bursting - but now what they were doing was more like coaching, everything more active than cerebral. They danced around the room and dissolved into giggles when Rose futilely tried to teach the Doctor how to sing. He swore he had a decent voice in several regenerations, but it was clear this was not one of them. They sang enthusiastic karaoke anyway. He taught her this crazy exercise routine from the 24th century that was a strange combination of partner dancing, clogging, and aerobics. And for some reason it involved making ridiculous faces at each other - to work out their facial muscles he had told her. She thought that part may just be to make her laugh, but she went along with it anyway because it felt so good to shake with mirth instead of fear or pain. The physical activity and telepathic challenges had Rose flooded with endorphins and focused on other things than the blade poised above her neck. And with the Doctor pulling back on the physical contact and questioning, she felt like a weight was lifted from her. Before, they had both been eaten up by anxiety and feeding off the other's tense mood. Now, it was like the Doctor had flipped the switch and the spiral was going the opposite direction. Up, up, up they went together. In some ways, it _really_ felt like old times now, not just in practice but in her gut. All they needed was the hum of the TARDIS and new ground beneath their feet.

She was still taken away for sessions at intervals, but the tension from the random schedule didn't eat at her as much anymore. They would come for her. It was an inevitability, no longer an uncertainty. There was some dark sort of peace she found in that. She was getting better at compartmentalizing so she could scream her bloody lungs out during the sessions and then leave the torture in that dim room when she returned to her Doctor.

Then one day Handsy showed up without his usual tray of toys and fear roared through her mind as if it had never been tamed at all. Was this it? Was this when they killed her? If they didn't mean to torture her today and she knew they would never just let her go unscathed, that only left…

Her heart rate quickened in terror and all she seemed to hear was the rapid beeping of the heart rate monitor behind her. No! It wasn't fair! Her and the Doctor…they hadn't had enough time together, not nearly enough! She thought of him, sitting alone in that room waiting for her return. Would they even tell him she was gone? Or would they just bring in some new girl? She couldn't help the ridiculous surge of jealousy that briefly flitted through her mind at the thought. Her parents, Tony, Micky, Kimmy and her mates…they would never know what happened to her. She tried to hold in the sob that was fighting it's way out.

As Handsy advanced on her, her racing thoughts turned to wondering how this was going to play out. Short and quick - a shock that stopped her heart or a bullet from someone hiding in the shadows? Or slow and drawn out - was Handsy hiding a needle of poison? Had the dose already been given while she was unconscious? Would it hurt? A tear dripped down her cheek.

She felt the beginnings of a panic attack, but through a valiant effort reigned it in, determined not to die cowering in fear. As she had been for days, she drew the strength from the Doctor when she had none left of her own. She closed her eyes and pictured his face, his freckled smile, their best memories together - a collection that now included him belting out Billy Joel in a loud, off-key voice. And in the end, well…in the end if all they had were memories, maybe that was ok. She let them wash over her…

…And was brutally shaken from them when a large fist connected with her side. Her eyes flew open and she gasped to take in the air that had been forced from her lungs at the assault. It was a hard thing to do when pain radiated through her ribs. It wasn't nearly as painful as the shocks she was used to, but the abruptness of it made it feel worse. And just because it wasn't as horrific as the electric shocks, didn't mean it didn't hurt. It did. A lot.

She recovered enough to glare back at Handsy who looked smug and jubilant. That was never a good sign. She hadn't seen him like this since that first day he had gotten to use his cylindrical toy.

"That was from me to you, luv," he said, "And this -" he punctuated the sentiment with a blow to her face that had her head snapping to the side and eyes seeing stars, "is a message from Madame Kovarian to the Doctor." Rose's vision cleared enough to see him looming over her, "No more hiding," he grinned with crooked teeth and then sent her rapidly into unconsciousness with one of the electric sparking toys he slipped out of his pocket.

Rose woke with a groan some time later sore, burned, and bruised still laying on the metal table. Wait? Bruised!? It all came rushing back and she felt herself start to tremble. She had been right in the beginning that time was up, but not because it meant her death. Not yet, anyway. Her borrowed resilience in the last several days didn't mean victory; it just meant the rules had to change for her to lose. Like Handsy had said, "No more hiding." _Oh Doctor, _she thought, _I'm so sorry._


	24. Chapter 24

"Rose!" The Doctor was at her side less than two seconds after she walked through the door. He couldn't stop himself from enveloping her in a desperate hug and was surprised when she sank into his embrace, "Oh Rassilon Rose, what did they do to you? Let me see? Please? Let me have a look?"

She just burrowed her face into his shoulder and shook her head. Keeping one arm firmly around her shoulders, he lifted the other to run soothingly through her hair at the back of her head a few times. When she seemed to relax a fraction at his touch, he slowly pulled away and tried to cup her chin and turn her face up to the florescent lighting of the room so he could see the injury more closely.

"Doctor don't," she pleaded weakly, pulling her chin out of his grasp.

"Rose, I've already seen that impressive shiner your sporting. No use hiding, eh?" she stiffened at that half-hearted try at humor, so he continued seriously, "Please love, please let me take a look."

With a shaky sigh she raised her head and he sucked in a breath through his teeth at what he saw. Not only was her eye an angry blue and swollen shut, but half of her face was puffy and raised in a welt. Whoever assaulted her must have been wearing a ring or had a horned appendage or something of the like because there was a slowly seeping gash at the corner of her eye.

"Oh Rose," was all he could manage to say. He tenderly palpated the area to make sure nothing was broken and made a mental note to watch her for a concussion over the next several hours. He wished he had his sonic to take care of the cut and the swelling, but some cool water would have to do. Their next meal wasn't for another two and a half hours, so they wouldn't even have ice until then. Throughout his careful examination, Rose stood rigidly and hardly winced. As he was finishing, a tear somehow squeezed out from where her eye was swollen shut and he realized that she was crying.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry they did this to you," he said wrapping her back up in his arms. He was more careful this time in case she had any other injuries that were less visible. And come to think of it, "Is there…is there anything else? Did they hurt you anywhere else."

She let out a long sigh and slowly pulled out of the embrace. Her voice sounded weak, tired, and resigned. "C'mon Doctor. I have a lot to tell you and I'm not going to do it standing in the doorway. Plus," she wavered on her feet, "I think I need to sit down."

There was a large part of him that wanted to whisk her up in his arms and carry her to the bed, but he didn't think she would appreciate that. She seemed stable enough to make the short walk under her own power. Plus, she still hadn't denied any other injury and the last thing he wanted to do was cause her any more pain.

She collapsed bonelessly into the bed and lay still for a few moments before adjusting herself to get more comfortable in a seated position leaning against the padded headboard. He didn't miss that she winced and was favoring her abdomen. Tramping down the part of him that wanted to know absolutely everything absolutely this second, he sat down next to her and waited for her to speak. It was something he didn't think he could have done without the previous weeks of practicing restraint and coming to learn more intimately what Rose needed from him. He knew right now that she needed to take her time and would speak when she was ready. So he waited, even though it was killing him.

It took several minutes and he was beginning to worry that even though she was sitting up, she was going to fall asleep before she would speak. Finally, she began in a horribly monotone voice that was very much not her and sent a shiver of dread through him. She was neither touching nor looking at him, instead keeping her body tense and staring out at the wall across from them. He was almost relieved that tears continued to silently fall down her cheeks just so he knew that she was still feeling anything at all. She otherwise sounded and looked just so…empty. Her eyes, her voice, her posture - none of it radiated the life that she usually displayed so openly. And if he thought her affect was bad, what she said was so much worse.

As she told him what Madame wanted and why, he was confused, then horrified. What war? He certainly wasn't fighting one last he checked. The fact that Madame wanted him dead didn't really concern or surprise him. He'd lived long enough to make plenty of enemies and was used to death threats. So far none had come to pass, at least not permanently, so he liked his scorecard in that particular area. He _was_ scared for Rose though - for what Madame wanted from both of them and the threat to Rose's life if they didn't comply. Of course, Rose didn't tell him that part explicitly, but it was easy enough to read between the lines.

It was an impossible situation with no right answer. Or at least none out of the choices they'd been given. He'd definitely have to start putting more thought into "plan K" regarding their escape. A surge of guilt gripped him when he realized he had been so caught up in keeping Rose emotionally and physically near him, he had let the escape planning slide. And now look what had happened. He wondered if she was mad at him that he hadn't protected her from this. But no, that wasn't his Rose. She forgave him far too many things.

When Rose told him in that same detached voice what that evil woman and one of the guards had been doing to her during the sessions, all thoughts were abruptly pushed aside by searing hot fury. He wanted to kill them. He wanted to kill them for what they did to Rose - for what she told him they would continue to do until it was over, one way or another. Never had these walls seemed so confining. Before they had only kept him from the stars, but now, they kept him from justice. His vision went red as his double pulse pounded through his skull.

"It'll get worse now, I expect," she said, her voice losing some of the monotone and becoming desperate as she finally turned to look at him. His breath caught at the fire and determination in her eyes, such a contrast to the ghost she was mere moments ago, "But don't you give in and don't you let me!" She pushed herself up on her knees and laid her clammy palms over each of his hearts, fingers curling into the fabric of his borrowed suit. "You're much too important, you hear me? So no matter what they do to me, and I imagine it will be visible from now on, you don't give in, because there can't be another Time Lord. Ever. Your death cannot become a fixed point. I won't let that happen, and you have to keep on not letting that happen for the both of us once I'm - once I'm gone," she broke down in earnest then and he swept her onto his lap and into his arms, a war of emotions going on inside him, no single feeling able to stand out in the maelstrom.

"Oh god Doctor, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! You were never supposed to know about any of this. I never meant to say…and then it just all came out. I tried. I tried so hard, but they…oh god Doctor I'm so sorry!" He just held her tighter and made inarticulate calming noises as she cried and repeated unwarranted apologies into his chest. All this time, she'd had this terrible secret, this impossible decision she'd been protecting him from. She would suffer unspeakable pain and then come back to him with a smile on her face. She lived in fear that any time they took her, they would kill her because of that bravery, because in more ways than one she had chosen to protect him over her own well being. He had known something was off, but he'd had no idea, _no idea_ it was anything close to this. He was in awe of her strength and gutted that she suffered on his behalf. He stared at the ceiling trying to keep the moisture in his eyes from spilling over. He hoped he could show her a fraction of what she had given him.

When her sobs had tapered off to the point she was crying silently and the tightness in his throat had loosened enough, the Doctor finally spoke, "You have nothing, _nothing_ to be sorry for, Rose Tyler. You've been so strong. And taking it all on yourself…You should have told me. Why didn't you tell me?" he couldn't help that the question came out pleading, "I suppose, I know why. You wanted to protect me, but _why_ Rose? It would always catch up to me sooner or later. Were you going to wait until it was your body they brought back one day?" She just looked at him and he knew her answer to the last question was yes. Did she really think that would have been better?

"Doctor, I don't have a lot of control over what's gunna happen, but I knew I could give you more time free from all this mess. Maybe it's daft, especially to someone as long-lived as you, but if all I could give you was a few extra days of peace, that was worth it to me. And if it was a few weeks or months or years, all the better. Especially if the extra time I gave you helped you escape."

"But Rose, the things you've endured, what you've gone through…and for me. I -"

She looked up abruptly to meet his eyes and cut him off before he could finish, "Don't you dare say you're not worth it, because you are. You're worth that and more."

"I don't -" he started.

"I know you don't understand," she sighed in frustration, "I know you'll never see yourself how I see you - how so many other's see you. But Doctor, you're…amazing. Brilliant, brave…you've done so much for this universe and ask for nothing in return. You make people better. Like you've done for me. And if none of that were true, I'd still have done it because I _love_ you. I'd do it because I need you just as much as the universe does. Because you are so important to _me_." She continued to hold his gaze with intensity, almost daring him to disagree. He broke first to stare down at their fingers that had become tangled together at some point.

"And," she continued, "I knew that if you knew what was going on, you'd want to do it. You'd want to give into their plan in order save me and I didn't know if I'd be strong enough to say 'no' when you asked."

She was right, of course. That's exactly what he wanted to do. He wanted her safe, no matter what the consequences might be later, no matter that this was never how he wanted their first time to be. He opened his mouth to reply but realized she still had more to say. It nearly regenerated him, but he swallowed down the carefully crafted plea he'd been about to voice.

She squeezed his hand. "But listen, I didn't know if I'd be strong enough before, yeah, but now I know I am. And I got that from you," she said looking into his eyes, "You made me better, stronger when I didn't think I had anything left in me. So no matter what you're thinking, no matter what you were about to say, my answer is still no. I'm not gunna sleep with you Doctor. Not like this. I'm not gunna make a baby with you only to have it taken away and made into a weapon to ultimately kill you. And as long as I say no, you aren't going to make me."

It was a statement not a question, but he still confirmed somewhat defeatedly, "No, Rose. I told you before. I never could."

She nodded stiffly. "I know. But…thank you."

"Rose I'm sorry, but I have to ask. I need to know; was that why - why you've been so..."

"Distant?" she finished for him and he was grateful he didn't have to fumble through what he was trying to ask, "No. Well, not completely. It was this." With that she lifted up the bottom of the loose pink tee she was wearing to show a torso marred with burns and bruises. "I knew you would notice if we got too close. But now, well you'll figure it out soon enough and I don't want your imagination running away with you in the meantime. I know it looks bad, but really, I'm fine."

"Rassilon Rose!" he stared in horror at the multiple injuries. Fine indeed. There was not a single thing fine about this!

"You've been saying that a lot today," she sighed. He looked up to catch her eye and realized she had been joking in a half-hearted and tired sort of way. Her lips were tilted up in a slight smile.

He admired her for that valiant effort, but he was in no mood to return the sentiment. Instead, he asked to look at the damage to her once smooth skin. Rose laid back and tucked the end of the tee into her bra so it wouldn't fall in the way. This time she didn't shiver in pleasure when he touched her. She just stared blankly at the ceiling like this was any old clinical exam. After a few moments his eyes narrowed.

"Rose, you said they've been doing this the whole time, but all this is just from today. There's no evidence of older injuries."

"Oh. Right. Well they didn't leave any bruises until today, and as for the burns… I've been healing really fast. Like, fresh new skin every morning. Surprise," she wiggled her fingers at him. Again her with the half-hearted humor.

"It's not funny," he replied evenly, unable to keep the concern out of his voice.

"Nah, it's not," she agreed, "but I don't know what else to say. Everything's so muddled. I'm horrified, and scared, and upset…but I'm also…relieved? Which makes me sort of a rotten person, so then there's the guilt. And it's coming out as bad jokes, I guess. Sorry."

The Doctor didn't know what to address first, but he had to start somewhere, "Rose, please, _please_ don't feel guilty. I don't think I could stand it."

"Oh. Yeah. Sure. I'll just go ahead and flip that switch then because it's that simple," she teased him lightly with a dark laugh. This time he felt his own lips quirk up despite himself. How did she do that?

"Alright, point taken," he conceded, "But I want you to know that you have nothing to be guilty about. Rose, you are so far from a rotten person. You're…you're the _best_. I'm relieved too, you know. I'm relieved that I know what's really going on now, as horrible as it is. I wish you had told me from the beginning, before it got to this point," he traced a finger lightly over her swollen face, "but it's done. And we're going to figure this out and get out of here because I don't much fancy any of the options our hosts have offered. That alright?"

Rose nodded, her eyes suddenly drooping. "Hey," he cupped her non injured cheek, "none of that now. Am I really so boring that I'm putting you to sleep?"

Rose yawned and shook her head a little in an effort to fight of the drowsiness. "M' sorry," she mumbled, "M' always so tired after the sessions. I know we're having a heart to heart here and all, but could I take a kip before we finish?"

The Doctor was instantly concerned. Sleepiness with a possible head injury was not a good thing. "Rose, love, I need you to stay awake, alright? I'm worried about you having a concussion. I saved you some tea from breakfast. Would you like a cuppa? Get some caffeine in your system? I know you like your caffeine."

But Rose was sinking down into the pillows and more towards sleep, "M' fine Doctor. Need sleep. Then talk."

He sighed, knowing he would cave. "Oh alright. But can I do a quick exam on you first? And I'll have to wake you up every hour to make sure everything is ok in that beautiful little noggin of yours."

Rose made a sound that was roughly translated to "Mphffff," and nodded her assent.

He quickly went about checking a few key neurological markers and by the time he was done, Rose was snoring lightly. In sleep she looked so relaxed and content. It was such a contrast to the pain he knew she was in when she was awake and he hoped her dreams would be peaceful. He watched her for a few minutes before getting up to fetch a damp towel from the ensuite. He dabbed at the cut near her eye until it was clean and then held the cool towel to the welt, being careful not to wake her from her peaceful reprieve. He just wished he could protect her so easily once she woke up.

Rose slept deeply for just over two hours and with him monitoring her so closely with his heightened senses, he decided to just let her sleep through.


	25. Chapter 25

Rose woke up slowly and a little muddled, but aware enough to know that she was in the Doctor's arms. _Safe, _she thought with a contented sigh. It wasn't a common feeling as of late, and she relished these precious moments where she could truly relax. When she finally opened her eyes, she smiled up at him, but her lips turned down as she realized she could hardly see out of one of her eyes. Odd, that. Now that she thought about it, it did feel like there was something uncomfortably heavy and lightly throbbing on one side of her face. She tentatively reached a hand up to investigate and winced when she felt the angry swollen area. Oh.

"Ugh. Forgot for a second there," she grumbled, "I'd hoped it had just been a bad dream."

"Yeah. Me too," he shifted his arms to help her slowly sit up.

"But you weren't even asleep," she laughed weakly, arching into his hand as it rubbed soothingly over her back.

"Oh psh, you and your concern for minor details," he grinned and bopped her nose, making her giggle, "How are you feeling, love?"

Rose's heart did a little somersault at the endearment and then did full on backflips when she remembered he'd used the term several times earlier that morning. Wondering if he even realized what he'd said, she just grinned up at him, biting her bottom lip.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?" he wiped at his face as if to remove some blemish and ran a hand through his hair, checking for any misplaced locks.

Rose couldn't help letting a small giggle escape before she replied with a wide smile, "You called me 'love.'" The look on his face, something like incredulity and a hint of anxiety, told her he'd had no idea what he'd said.

He sat up straighter, narrowed his eyes, and wagged a finger at her, "No I did no-…Oh." He swallowed audibly, now looking like Donald Duck choking on a jawbreaker with his wide eyes and lips flapping open and closed.

Rose's giggles turned into full blown laughter and it was several moments before she could catch her breath to reassure him,"Oh relax, you silly Time Lord. 'M not pressing. But it was nice to hear, you know." She let him stew with that for a few seconds before taking pity on him and changing the subject, "And to answer your question, I feel much better. Look, I can even open my eye a bit!" She proceeded to demonstrate for him. "And…I bet…" she lifted her shirt up a few inches to inspect what she guessed would be a mostly healed abdomen. "Yep! Loads better! Told you I was healing fast!" she beamed.

"And you weren't kidding!" the Doctor had an odd mixture of relief and concern on his face. He knelt down to look closer and Rose giggled as his breath tickled across her lower stomach. Seeming to realize how very close he had gotten, he pulled back before continuing to catalogue the changes from a more respectable distance - much to Rose's dismay. The bruise on her side had turned from dark blue to more muted yellowish green and the burns looked like they were already several days old. More importantly to Rose, they _felt_ like they were several days old. The throbbing and burning had faded and she imagined if she didn't move too much or poke at the injuries, she wouldn't even know they were there. When she looked up to meet his eyes, he was frowning, the concern from earlier apparently winning over. That was just so him, wanting to analyze a gift into oblivion.

"I know you're worried, but isn't this a good thing? It's bound to come in handy, yeah? Especially with all the…well, you know," she waved her hand as if being tortured regularly was some frivolous detail. His frowned deepened. It seemed the more she tried to make light of things, the graver he became.

"Come in handy? Sure," he agreed, placing a hand over hers to let her know she could let her shirt back down, "But it's what's causing the rapid healing that I'm concerned about. It could mean anything - changes to you, your energy, your very DNA…Rose, it could be very dangerous."

_Well of course. Because they didn't have enough problems…_ She sighed and ran a hand through hair stringy from sweat and tears. A nice long shower is what she needed, but she wanted to know more about this healing thing first. She had wanted to ask him about it for weeks and now that he already knew about everything else, she could finally talk to him about it. "Yeah, I kind of figured. Just hard to be wary of something that makes me feel so much better. Dunno, I even feel like sometimes it's the reason I'm even still, you know…alive."

The Doctor solemnly held both her hands in his, "And I'm so, so glad for that," he voice cracked slightly and he took a moment to squeeze her hands and take a breath before continuing, "I never want you to be in pain. Never. I just hope that whatever it is that's causing this is safe for you."

"How would we know? I mean, there's got to be some way to tell, yeah?" If they figured this out, they could at lest check one thing off their list of dire problems. A win was something they both needed right now.

The Doctor let go of her hands to scratch at his head, tongue curled to the back of his mouth in thought. "Well there's dozens of tests, but those are all back on the TARDIS…"

"Anything we can do right now?" Rose prompted. She wanted to keep him on track, keep him away from that panicky place that simmered behind his eyes.

He sighed and deflated a little, "Not really. I'll monitor you, get an idea of healing rate, try to find any patterns…That may help tease something out. I already checked you over and nothing else seems to be alarmingly different. Same old lovely Rose Tyler."

Well that was it then. Rose returned his solemn smile and nodded. Nothing more they could do at the moment. She wasn't sure if she was relieved or disappointed that they wouldn't be getting to the bottom of this anytime soon.

"So…" she started lamely once the silence became oppressive. _What now, _she thought, but couldn't bring herself to voice the sentiment. It was pretty much implied anyway. She let her eyes wander, unable to look at him. God, this was like a bad first date. But instead of worrying about smalltalk, their tongues were tied because they were worrying about torture and impending execution. So not really like a bad first date at all then. Rose chuckled darkly to herself.

"Rose," the Doctor said suddenly sounding pained, "I can't.

She looked up at him quizzically. Had she said something without realizing it? She was pretty tired. And drained. It wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility…

She was about to ask him what it was he couldn't do when he finally exploded. The Oncoming Storm that she had anticipated since walking through the door this morning had arrived. All at once he was yelling and pulling at his hair so hard she worried he'd come away with fistfuls of the stuff. "If you're going to suggest we watch telly or…or I don't know… try our hands at disco dancing or something, I can't. I can't just read some text book and pretend that you're not being tortured! Rose they're _hurting_ you! And there's not a bloody thing I can do about it. I don't…I don't know how to do this Rose. I don't know how to sit here and be calm when I know that they can take you away at any second. And one day you may not come back. I can't lose you Rose, not again. I can't. Please…" she didn't know who he was pleading with and didn't think he knew either. Oh, she had wanted to protect him from this.

Rose crawled over to where he had curled in on himself with his head buried in his hands. She held him, wrapping one arm around his back and clutching the arm closest to her. She laid her good cheek on his shoulder, trying to repay him a fraction of the comfort that had helped her get through the past few weeks. She knew it would never be enough, but she clung to him tightly all the same.

After a few minutes she adjusted her legs so she was more comfortable, knowing that Time Lords had quite the endurance for brooding. She would hold him for as long as he needed her to. But a few seconds later, he shifted in both mood an position, uncurling his body so he could return her embrace with intensity. Before she could adjust her balance, his lips crashed into hers and his arms were the only things keeping her from falling backwards onto the bed. He was intense and needy, taking advantage of her surprised gasp to push into her mouth. The chill that had suffused her being melted under the craved intimacy, but she worried that he wasn't quite in control. After a few swipes of his tongue against hers, she found she didn't really care. "This ok?" he asked after pulling back to allow her a few ragged breaths. In answer she grabbed him by the lapels of his suit jacket and pulled him back down to her. His hands were everywhere she wasn't injured, caressing up and down her back, tangling in her hair, wrapping around her shoulders to pull her even closer. Her own hands plunged into his thick hair, anchoring them together in an embrace neither of them ever wanted to leave. She lost herself in him, choosing the bliss he offered over the cruel realities that stalked them. She was burning and he was everything she needed to feel whole again.

It was him who finally eased back. Rose couldn't say if it was seconds or centuries later.

"Rose," he whispered, her name both a caress and a warning. She came back to herself with a start and realized how close they had come to taking things too far. Or rather how close she had come. Because she knew that if he hadn't stopped her then, she would have taken and given everything. In her desperation and need, she wouldn't have stopped until they had broken every barrier between them. For all her initial fear that he had been out of control, she was the one who had nearly taken things too far. Her Doctor was always there to rescue her, this time it was from herself. At that thought, she felt wave of shame wash over her. _Oh god! _she thought, _It's his life at stake and I'm acting like a horny teenager!_

She let him pull back until their foreheads rested together, breaths mingling as they slowed from ragged to even. He continued to stroke her face as her hands rested on his chest, feeling his heartsbeats steady with each breath. She opened her mouth to apologize, but felt whatever she was about to say die in her throat. There were no words to atone for what she had almost done. She felt sick.

"Rose," he whispered once his breaths were back to their normal steady pace, "I'm sorry, I…I just needed…but it was too much, I think. I'm sorry."

She looked up at him sharply, "Sorry!? _You're _sorry? How can you even look at me right now!? I almost…I would have….You know I wouldn't have stopped, Doctor. I would have let my bloody hormones win and it would have _killed_ you!" No longer able to face him, she scrambled off his lap where she had been straddling him and nearly fell in her hurry to get off the bed. She rested her head against the wall farthest from the bed and let go of the tears she wasn't strong enough to hold in. That was the crux of it, wasn't it? She wasn't strong enough. She couldn't protect him from the full details of their situation and now she couldn't even protect him from herself.

Her ragged breaths drowned out his quiet footfalls so when he gently cupped her shoulders she started violently. "Don't," she gasped. She couldn't bear his comfort when what she deserved was a few hours with Handsy. She'd welcome the physical pain over what she was feeling now.

He stood his ground, quietly rubbing soothing circles on her bare shoulders. It was only then that she realized she wasn't wearing a top. She didn't remember it's removal and was horrified all over again at how lost she had become in the moment. At least she still appeared to be wearing a bra and bottoms.

"You're wrong," she felt his breath ghost across her neck as he leaned his head down to whisper just behind her right ear. She tried not to shiver, but her body was still on fire from their near coupling. "You're wrong about it being just about hormones, and I think you know that. At least I hope you do, on some level. It was about feeling close and finding comfort. It was about _giving_ comfort and all I can think of is thanking you for what you just offered me. The distance that's been between us…it's been torture. Er…sorry, bad word choice. Anyway…We needed this. I needed this. I needed to feel close to you again."

"How can you say that?" she half-sobbed, "How can you just accept that I almost killed you? Maybe not directly, but close enough with the timelines and all. How can you even look at me?"

"_It takes two to tango, love," _now he was speaking inside her head and she couldn't help basking in the intimacy of their telepathic connection, "_See? What you're feeling now, that's not just about sex Rose. I want to lose myself in you, and that's not just about sex either. I want you. I've always wanted you, but it's more than that. You helped me find peace just now and that's quite an achievement considering everything that's going on. If you found a few moments of peace as well, I can only be grateful."_

She thought she was beginning to understand, but didn't want to let herself off the hook so easily. "_I went too far." _

"_So did I. But we stopped in time and I don't regret a single moment. I can't stand the thought of you having regrets."_

Rose was quite for a long time, both in her head and her voice. Finally she projected, "_I don't regret it. That's what scares me. I don't want to pull away from you anymore. I don't think I can. But I'm so…I'm such a mess right now. I don't trust myself. Not with anything and especially not with your life. Now when I want you so much."_

Slowly, and with only gentle pressure, he coaxed her around until she was facing him. "_I may be able to do something to help with that."_

She looked up at him hopefully.

"_But I don't think I'll need to," _he continued, "_I think we can do this the good old fashioned, non-mind meddling way."_

"_But we almost-" Rose argued._

"_And if we had, it still would have been ok." _At her quizzical look he explained, "_You won't be ovulating for another week. I wouldn't have gotten you pregnant. And even if that were to happen, it wouldn't be under the best of circumstances but-"_

Now it was her turn to cut him off, "Don't!" she said, this time out loud, "I know where you're going with this and I'm not changing my mind. I don't want to talk about it."

The Doctor sighed, "I just want you safe," he said, cupping her uninjured cheek.

"And I want you safe. So it's not gunna happen. How did we get talking about this anyway. I'm still not clear about how we're going to be intimate without being, you know, _intimate. _Let's go back to that, yeah?" She didn't mention how internally she was still stuck on the part where she felt horribly guilty.

She wasn't sure if he sensed defeat or he was just biding his time, but he seemingly agreed to going back to the previous subject. "C'mon," he smiled and took her hand to lead her over to the bed. She dug her feet in warily.

"Rose," he said, now half-laughing, "We've been here many times before and did just fine."

"And all it takes is once," she grumbled, but she allowed him to lead her the rest of the way to the bed.

"Lay down. On your stomach. Please?" she continued to eye him dubiously but then remembered it wasn't him who she didn't trust. She laid down, remaining stiff as a board.

"Relax, love," he said in that honey voice that did pleasant things to her insides. How exactly was the supposed to be helping? Right now she was just feeling frustrated. At least he seemed to have accepted and adopted calling her "love." She tried her best to relax, but as soon as he put his hands on her upper back, she jumped and her body tensed further.

"Too cold?" he asked.

"Something like that," she grumbled into the pillow she was laying on. In truth his touch has sent shots of desire through her that she wasn't prepared to cope with just yet. The fact that he believed in her, believed in their ability to touch without it leading anywhere was the only thing keeping her on the bed and allowing this to continue.

He chuckled but remained quiet as his hands started to do marvelous things on her skin. Slowly, the frustration turned to relaxation and the fiery heat coursing through her veins muted into pleasant warmth. He rubbed and kneaded her tense muscles until she forgot why she had been so anxious in the first place. And where she was. And possibly her name.

Despite the utterly horrid morning they'd been having, she was almost content enough to drift off under his ministrations when their lunch appeared with it's usual clicking sounds. The Doctor gave her one last soft caress and then shifted over to hand her her shirt.

"Was that ok?" he asked. She was surprised to see how vulnerable he looked.

"Better than," she smiled at him once she was decent again, "That was lovely. Thank you." And she wasn't lying. What she thought would have been a new kind of torture somehow turned into a relaxing and pleasant experience. That man really was a genius.

Oh and he knew it, the git. He beamed smugly and she realized a revenge massage was in store for him after lunch. She told him so, and even though he looked a bit wary at the glint in her eyes, she didn't think he'd complain too much once she got her hands on him.

"See. Intimacy without _intimacy._ Piece of cake for the Stuff of Legends, eh?" he winked at her. It was only because she knew him so well that she could tell he was still worried she may retreat again.

"Reckon you're right," she admitted, "Think we can keep it up?"

"Oh absolutely," he said waggling his eyebrows. They both laughed at the ridiculous double entendre and she felt even more tension leave her body. This was what she wanted - being close, flirting, and laughing with each other. Well not _all _she wanted, but for now, she could cope.


	26. Chapter 26

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The Doctor stared intently at the muted telly as Rose snored away on the bed. The routine as of late had been for him to talk the nightmares away as she slept, but as much as it helped her in the moment, it took away from valuable tinkering time. With him so focused on her the past few weeks, and her so focused on surviving, it was no wonder they were still trapped here. Still, directing his focus elsewhere was easier said than done. In the last couple of hours that she'd been napping, Rose had woken up twice with nightmares. Seeing her in the throes of terror he knew he was capable of preventing made it difficult to remind himself he was doing the right thing. But then he finally started making headway on their escape plan and his shaky conviction was strengthened. He couldn't wait for Rose to wake up so he could tell her the good news.

He continued to fiddle with the telly, surfing through menus and channels with speed only his advanced senses made possible. He hoped that his less gifted captors wouldn't be able to follow along, but he kept up a pretense of doing this solely for entertainment just in case. Every so often he would pause on a channel and pretend to be interested before he was off punching buttons and feigning frustration at the entertainment selection. Maybe they would load more channels or options onto the system which would only help his efforts.

He only stopped when he heard the rustle of sheets that meant Rose was either having another nightmare or close to waking. He hoped it was the later. It would be about time. To say she had fallen asleep right after lunch was giving her some leeway. She had actually nearly dozed off into her bowl of clam chowder. All this sleeping she had been doing made a little more sense now that he knew what really went on during the sessions, but her exhaustion still shouldn't be quite this bad. He wondered again if she were sick on top of everything else. He knew the Epstein-Barr Virus commonly affected humans in a similar way. How she would contract such a thing in the middle of a space station was beyond him though. And when he examined her, he hadn't found any evidence of any kind of infection -viral or otherwise. Still, it could be something he wasn't able to detect. Not for the first time that day, he wished he had access to the full arsenal of the TARDIS infirmary.

A tired, "Doctor?" broke him out of his thoughts. He switched off the telly and scooted up from where he had been sitting at the foot of the bed to recline next to her.

"Morning sleepy head," he couldn't help but grin at his adorably sleepy human before leaning over to drop a kiss on her forehead.

"Morning?! Blimey, did I sleep that long? I missed dinner!" she stretched out her limbs and rubbed the sleepiness from her eyes - well eye, as the other one was still a bit swollen. "Nah, it's only…." He thought about it a second, "just past three. Suppose 'good afternoon' would have been more appropriate. But it just doesn't have the same ring to it as good morning. And don't get me started on 'good evening!' I'm sorry, but there's really no way to say that without feeling like the creepy butler in a horror movie."

Rose smiled at him indulgently and reached up to ruffle his hair. "You nutter."

"Oi! I'm not wrong about this! Go on, say 'good evening.' You'll feel creepy, I guarantee it," he dared her.

"Hmmm maybe later," she blinked tiredly at him, contemplated something for a few moments, then smirked. Uh-oh. That look never meant anything good for him.

"Rose?" he questioned feeling a bit uncertain.

"I seem to recall I promised a revenge massage after lunch. Since I then went and slept for the next couple of hours, I think you're long overdue. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Er…suppose? But you don't have to, you know. You are awfully worn out. And injured. Just this once, I'll let it go that you didn't deliver on a threat. No one has to know. Your vicious reputation is safe with me," he assured her.

"Uh-huh. And this is because you are a gentleman, and not because I called it a 'revenge massage' and you're a little scared?" her smirk widened and with half her face still a little swollen it had an off-putting effect.

"Of course," he nodded seriously but the charade only lasted a few seconds before a large grin broke through.

She just stared at him for a few seconds with a bemused smile on her face. "What's gotten into you all of the sudden? It's like you just perfected the recipe for banana marmalade or something."

"I did! Didn't I tell you? Oh Rose, it's brilliant! Donna and I found an amazing batch and with a little reverse engineering and thirty-five hours in the kitchen I'm stocked up for the next three years!" if he were standing, he would be bouncing on the balls of his feet.

"Riiiight," she drawled, "Ok enough rest for me and enough of that gob of yours. Shirt off and lay down on your stomach," she smacked his bum for emphasis and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't a little turned on. Not the best way to start what was supposed to be a (mostly) chaste massage. Then again, when Rose was concerned, nothing was ever completely chaste. He shook his head and concentrated a moment on upping the efficiency of his body's endocrine filtering processes.

As wary as he was about this 'revenge massage,' he was bursting to tell her about his new discovery and a telepathic conversation was the only way to do so safely. The massage would be the perfect cover.

Of course, he didn't anticipate her being quite so good at it. It was several minutes of her hands turning him to putty before he remembered he had wanted to do anything other than lay here like this forever.

"_Rose," _he opened the connection. She hardly jumped, which was a testament to how often they did this now, "_We have a plan K!"_

Her hands paused for just a moment before she projected a huge grin to him through the link, "_Oh yeah?" _she asked.

"_Yep! It's not a quick thing and it depends on quite a few factors and I'm not even sure if -"_

"_Doctor," _she cut him off.

"_Yeah."_

"_Just tell me."_

"_Right. So they locked up all the hardware pretty effectively with those deadlock seals and force fields…I still think they went a bit overkill…But anyway, the software is still open for tinkering!" _he said proudly.

"_So you're gunna program the vent to open or something?" _Rose asked. Oh she was brilliant. He honestly hadn't thought of that. It wasn't possible, but still. Brilliant.

"_Errr…more like the 'or something' option," _he cringed into the pillow at the little bit of disappointment he felt from her. "_Unfortunately I can't directly affect much more than the lights in our room, which I wouldn't do because then our less than gracious hosts would be on to us. All the other things like the door and vent are controlled through another system that is guarded in so many layers it would take even me months to hack through - especially when I have to look like I'm just pushing random buttons on the remote. BUT, since flickering the lights or changing the water temperature aren't really all that threatening, there's hardly any protection built in."_

"_But how's that gunna help us get out, Doctor." _Rose asked, never ceasing in her quite distracting ministrations. He upped his body's filtration system another level.

"_We'll phone for help!"_ he made sure to project his beaming smile to her just in case she didn't recognize how brilliant this was. "_It will take some time, of course. The entertainment system is on an intranet type of circuit, but to call anywhere outside, I'll need to make it act as more of an internet type. And then it would need to get through to one of our home dimensions. I was going to go with our original universe since I have more connections there. Unless you think your Torchwood would be up for the job?"_

Rose was quiet for some time, "_You really think anyone will hear the message? You really think this will work?"_

"_I...I have to," _he said after an extended silence of his own. For the last hour he'd been on such a high from the beginnings of a plan that he hadn't really stopped to consider how far fetched it all was.

"_Well I wouldn't bank on my, er, rather Pete's Torchwood. We're good, but not good enough for inter-dimensional travel. A bit more domestic, us." _After a thoughtful pause she added, "_Course I was working on changing that…"_

"_Have I told you how brilliant you are yet today?" _he projected an image of him sweeping her into his arms and twirling her in a circle.

"_Mmmmm now you have,_" she sent him a cheeky grin. "_Do you know of anyone who could manage an inter-dimensional rescue?"_

"_Perhaps. It wouldn't be quite the same as crossing the void though, which I still think is in the realm of mostly impossible. So that's in our favor. Wherever we are now is some kind of a pocket universe bridging Pete's world and our original one. Possibly others, come to think of it. So really, all our rescuers would need would be some way to travel in space that works in both dimensions. And they'd have to know where to go, of course. But if they get our distress call, they should be able to extrapolate coordinates off of it. I hope…And I'm not really sure if I can direct the message to a particular person or even galaxy or century…Blimey this seemed like a genius idea a few minutes ago. It just goes to show how I'm rubbish on my own. Always miss things, me_"

"_Hey, don't say that,_" she reassured him, "_before we had nothing, and now we have hope. And that's…'mazing. It's everything. It's what we need._"

"_Yeah?_" he asked.

"_Yes,"_ she completed their routine.

"_I'll have lots of work to do before I can even send the message. It'll mean I won't be able to be right with you when you sleep. That's the only time I can think of to work on it without being obvious. I'm hoping to play up the 'ugg I'm so bored because my human sleeps all the bloody time and now I'm flipping through channels in frustration' thing."_

"_Well you'll hardly have to act!" _Rose giggled.

"_Eh it's not all that bad. Better when I can be with you though. Are you sure you're ok with this? It will make things a bit rougher on you for a while," _a fact that he deeply regretted.

"_Course I'm ok with it. It's our one shot and since you're doing all the work, I think I can handle a few nightmares._" He could feel her resolve through the link.

"_Alright then. Plan K. Set in motion and just waiting for success."_

"_Brilliant!"_

"_Molto Bene!"_

They both had to restrain themselves at laughing out loud.

"Well as much as I'm enjoying this," she said switching to use her voice as she gave his neck a final knead, "my hands are campin' so I think you're off the hook now."

He stretched luxuriously, "If that was punishment, feel free to get cross with me anytime."

"I wasn't really cross and you know it," she smacked his bum lightly again. He rather thought she was getting a little fixated on that part of his anatomy. Well, he did do a lot of running…if it looked half as good on him as it did on her…_alright none of that_, he chastised himself and set about putting his shirt back on. If he happened to wink in Rose's direction and relish the blush that colored her cheeks as he was doing so, so be it.

He made progress in his hacking endeavors that night and the hopefulness of finally being able to _do _something lasted through most of the night, despite the return of Rose's nightmares. But as morning came upon them, it was eclipsed by a sense of dread. He knew Rose felt it too by the way she woke early and clung to him under the blankets once he joined her. Though the schedule of the torture sessions was always random, they both seemed to know that she'd be taken today.

"I'm not letting them take you," he whispered desperately in her ear as they lay curled around each other. "I'm not. I'm not I'm not I'm not," he murmured as if his words would make it true.

"It's ok," she tried to comfort him even as her own voice shook. "I've gotten through it dozens of times before. I'll make it through this time to. I'm sorry I have to leave you. Especially with you knowing…I don't suppose I can just tell you to think of something else while I'm gone? Puppies maybe?"

"I'm sorry, but not a chance," he admitted, unable take her bait to lighten the mood, "I wish…I wish we could extend the link without touching. I wish I could at least be there with you, maybe take on some of your pain."

"I'm really glad you can't," Rose shivered, "But you still help me, when I'm…when they…when it get's really bad, I think about you and that helps." She was trying to comfort him, but there could be no comfort found in any of this.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry you have to go through this. I wish it was me." he buried his face in the crook of her neck and begged the universe to just let them be.

But the universe wasn't in the business of granting wishes that day. Hardly an hour passed before the telltale sound of boots in the hallway broke into their blanket cocoon.

The Doctor gripped her tighter, a continuous litany of, "No. Please. No. No no no," falling from his lips.

But as he fell apart, Rose rallied. She ran her hands soothingly through his hair and over his back, murmuring the same reassurances she always used - that she'd be fine, that she'd be back soon, that no matter what, she loved him. Through their link, she flooded him with pictures of their happiest memories while telling him that this is where she'd go in her head when she needed to. While he trembled, she was his steady anchor. While he panicked, she faced the guards with steely defiance as they flooded the room. She begged him to stop when he became frantic and lashed out like a rabid animal. She yelled something he barely comprehended about him calming down before he hurt himself, but then the tranquilizers kicked in and all he could do was scream like he had that first time they took her. Later, he would regret that he sent her off with that wild vision of him, but in the moment all he could think of was how he failed once again to keep her safe.


	27. Chapter 27

Just as Rose had predicted, a lot of what they did to her in that horrible room was visible now. She'd slink back to the Doctor with deep gashes or burns on her arms and maybe a split lip or a broken finger or two. On top of that, there was always the electric shocks. She figured those were a way of causing her more pain without killing her. A girl could only bleed so much without dying, after all. Handsy seemed more partial to the messier stuff himself. He was happiest when her blood was on his hands, and Rose was frightened by how much he seemed to hunger for more. She tried to remind herself that the fact they were still trying to break her was good. It meant she would live another day, and in a strange way, she was still under some amount of protection. Madame even seemed to reward Rose after she told the Doctor everything by making Handsy go a bit easy on her for a few days. Rose knew it wouldn't last long, so she tried to enjoy the slight reprieve. Funny, that. Being thankful for being tortured just a little less than usual, being thankful for being tortured instead of killed.

Going back to the Doctor that first time after everything was out in the open was horrible. The whole time she had been in the session, all she could think of was running back into his arms and indulging in their rekindled closeness. She missed him terribly, even more than usual. His anticipated touch was the last thing she thought of before she blacked out two hours later.

But then, as she stood outside the door to their room waiting for the guards to open the complex locking mechanism, she was overcome with a sense of dread. How could she let the Doctor see her like this? She knew she looked a mess, with her face lumpy and damaged from several different blows. The Doctor would be heartbroken when he saw her. Hoping to spare him some of the spectacle, she tried to use the sleeve of her shirt to mop at the blood still leaking from her broken nose. A jab from the butt of a gun and a glare from the attached guard put a quick stop to that though. She started to feel panicky as the door made the final clicking sound before it would open. She wasn't ready to face the Doctor yet. But like so many other things, she wasn't allowed to do this on her terms. She was pushed roughly into the room and squinted as her eyes adjusted from the darkness of the station's tunnels to the relative brightness of their room. Usually, she would rush to greet the Doctor, or at least find him with her eyes and offer him a reassuring smile. But now, she hovered near the door even after it closed and tried to make herself fade into the wall as she heard him approach. She couldn't look at him and tried to determine if she had a chance of getting past him into the loo to clean up before he got a good look at her.

"Hey," he seemed to sense her distress and stopped a few paces from her, "Rose?"

"Don't look at me," she hardly recognized her voice when it came out high and pleading like that, "I'll just…I just need the loo. Just let me get cleaned up and…"

He cupped her chin gently, and the gesture startled her. He must have covered the distance between them without her noticing. He was getting too good at that.

Just like the morning before, he tilted her face up until their eyes met, "Hey now, none of that," he said softly, "You don't have to hide from me, Rose. Ever."

She studied his face and was surprised at what she found. Yes, there was heartbreak there, but he himself wasn't breaking. There was concern, though if he was panicking, he was hiding it well. But the main thing she saw when she looked up at him was…love. He was looking at her like she was the most amazing thing in the world. She'd seen the look before, but never could quite figure out what it meant. She wasn't sure why now of all times it became clear to her, and was even more confused how he could look at her that way with her looking like like a troll.

He seemed to read her dark thoughts. "You're beautiful," he said, kissing her lightly on the forehead. She snorted, which she realized was a poor choice about a second later when her nosebleed ramped back up and she was gasping and sputtering against the new flow of blood. The Doctor went into instant doctor with a lowercase d mode.

"Here," he said handing her a handkerchief he seemed to pull out of thin air, "And come sit down." Once she was seated on the bed pinching her nose, he instructed her to lean forward so she wouldn't choke on the blood.

"'S not so bad dis timb," she said when she finally could breath without coughing or gagging. She thought he would hurry to disagree, but he surprised her yet again by cracking half a smile at her distorted, nasally voice and agreeing with her assessment.

"Yeah," he sighed, "I think they were going for aesthetics over severity this time. How are the burns?"

"Nod so bad," she shrugged.

"Good," he smiled wider. Rose could tell he was trying hard not to laugh at her ridiculous sounding voice. True, she did sound silly, but there was more than amusement behind his smile…

"Yowre a lod mo' calm den I espeded," she appraised him, trying to power through despite sounding like she had a bad head cold.

He shrugged, "I had time to calm down. And then when I saw you, I think relief took over the rest. But Rose," he said seriously, "If you keep talking, I think I may just giggle, the manly sort of giggle of course, but…I think you may get a little cross at me if I did giggle, manly or otherwise. Wait. No. Sorry. You'd ged a liddle cwoss wid me," he mimicked her.

She glared at him for a few seconds before they both broke into laughter. He sat down on the bed beside her and they were quiet as she rode out the rest of her nosebleed. Though they didn't speak, she could feel the electricity of excitement radiating off of him.

Finally she felt it was safe to remove the handkerchief from her nose. Free from that obstacle, she stretched up to kiss him. "_You figured it out. The signal, I mean. You did, didn't you?" _she asked him telepathically knowing he would feel the excited tone of the thought.

Their captors would think he was beaming at her because of the kiss, but she knew it was his way of confirming her hunch. She placed a hand over his where it rested on her thigh just above her knee, "_That was quick. Some might even say…impressive."_

"If I give you a proper snog right now, will it hurt you?" he asked seriously.

"Not if you mind the nose and other obvious lumps," she grinned back.

"Brilliant!" he chirped and then proceeded to snog her breathless. She barely had enough brain power left to comprehend when he explained, "_It's all done and sent. They added new menu options like I'd hoped and it sped up the process five fold. All we have to do now is wait for rescue."_

"Mmmmm very impressive," she hummed. Then yawned.

"Oh don't tell me you're tired already?" he pouted, though she knew he was more concerned than put out, "You just got back."

"Sorry," she smiled sleepily at him. Then she remembered the state she was in and grimaced. "Ugg, but shower first, I think. I'm a mess."

"You're beautiful," he repeated his earlier sentiment.

"And you're just fishing for another snog before I conk out," she ruffled his hair affectionately - her new favorite habit.

"Weellll…yeah, a bit," he helped her up and looked down at her sheepishly before taking both of her hands and continuing, "But it's true Rose. You're beautiful. You're always beautiful."

She wasn't sure if it was the contrite puppy look or the conviction in his voice when he said those wonderful things, but she couldn't resist reaching up and tugging his face down to hers for another toe-curling kiss. She left him more than a little breathless and decided that the shower she was about to take would have to be a cold one.

Over the next two weeks they seemed to be checking more things off their list. The Doctor continued to tinker with the entertainment system in the hopes that he would strengthen and better direct the signal they were sending out. Their captors stayed oblivious, proving that luck hadn't completely deserted them. Rose knew someone was still watching their every move as things the Doctor and her did or spoke about were often brought up when Madame stopped by to chat during the sessions. The thought of getting something past the bastards right under their noses was invigorating and Rose couldn't help smirking through each conversation with Madame, even if it meant things would go worse for her once Handsy had his turn.

Quite by accident they also figured out why she was healing so rapidly. The Doctor first started to work it out when he had to keep her awake all night after she'd been given a bad blow to the head. It was much worse than last time, and he was afraid that if she slept, she could just slip away. They both expected her to be recovered by the next day, as per usual, but her injuries had barely scabbed over, let alone healed. Then there was the time she passed out from blood loss as soon as she got back to their room and there hadn't been any healing at all while she was unconscious. A transfusion came with their next meal and she regained consciousness a few hours later after the Doctor had hooked her up with the IV equipment. It was only when she fell back into a proper sleep that her wounds started stitching themselves up. So there it was. The rapid healing only occurred when she slept. That likely explained why she felt compelled to sleep so long and so often, which was two mysteries solved in one go. Rose was rather happy about their successful sleuthing. But the Doctor, though relieved at finding the reason for her increased need for sleep, was still agitated that they didn't know why sleeping catalyzed the rapid healing.

Rose knew the reason they never discussed the underlying cause, even though they both stewed over it individually. If they had talked about it, all kinds of things would have come up. Things like Bad Wolf or advanced medical technology she may have come into contact with in their travels or her work for Torchwood. Things that would allow her to run with the Doctor for far longer than a normal human lifespan. Maybe some bad things would have come up too, but those were far less dangerous to think about. Even without putting any of this to voice, the dangerous thoughts were the ones that consumed her. She tried not to get her hopes up, but it was difficult to push aside. "Hope was a thing with wings" and all that. _More like a thing with claws, _Rose thought as it continued to seduce her.

It was because of that hope that when she discovered the real reason she was healing so quickly, what should have been another win, felt more like a blow. It had happened when she woke up too early from the sedation they always used to transfer her to the sessions. She'd woken up before they were ready for her a few times in the past and had even made it out the door before they caught up with her once or twice. This time, she was still too groggy to make a run for it, but she feigned sleep and listened to the voices around her. Madame was there, a rare occurrence as of late, and there was a new male voice she didn't recognize.

"I don't like the look of it," the new voice said, "She's losing even more weight and the blood test indicated she's moderately malnourished. If this gets any worse, she won't be able to carry a child, Ma'am. And even her chance of conceiving isn't promising. She missed her last menstrual cycle, and it likely won't come back until we can get her weight back up."

Rose wanted to squirm at these people discussing private details of her body. It was bad enough to look in the mirror and see a sallow skeleton looking back at her. How the Doctor still wanted to touch her was a mystery. No matter how thin and weak she became, she just couldn't manage to eat enough. She understood the state the Doctor had been in when she first came here much better now. When emotions were running so high, it was difficult to find food anything but a nuisance. And here these people were, discussing her insecurities and failures as if she were a farm animal. With a focused effort not to respond indignantly, she was able to keep her breaths even and remain still. She hoped to learn something worthwhile.

"Well, Mr. Lambert, I think you'd better fix it," Madame said in that honey voice that had an undercurrent of lethality. That woman never raised her voice. She didn't need to.

"I've already given her supplements," the new man, probably some kind of doctor or medic, hurried to say, "and I can give her something to make her hungry. All the tests I've run show she's absorbing everything fine and the…er…conditioning isn't having any negative effects in that area. I think it's just the psychological aspects at work here. Anorexia isn't unheard of as a side effect of trauma. She really just needs to eat more, and we can force that on her easily enough."

"Do it," Madame snapped. Rose heard the click of her heels as the woman left the room.

Rose felt the sting of something being pushed through her IV, and suddenly, it was perfectly clear to her why she had been healing so quickly. It was them. It was something they were dosing her with, just as they were dosing her now so she would eat more. The loss of a dream and the frightening fact that they were controlling her in this way was too much and her breaths came with increasing frequency. What else were they controlling?

"You might as well open your eyes, luv," Handsy drawled once another set of retreating feet signaled they were alone in the room, "I know you're awake. And it's so much better when I can see your eyes. They show everything you try to hide from 'ol Handsy." She hated how he used the nickname she had given him with pride.

Rose kept her eyes closed until they were forced open with a blow to her jaw. "Now now," Handsy cooed, "What have I told you about little girls who don't listen?" He slashed at her cheek with something sharp that left a deep and stinging cut. "I'll tell you a little secret," he lowered his voice and leaned in towards her ear as if they were conspiring, "it's just a little bit nicer than what we do to little girls who like to eavesdrop."

True to his promise, and much to the sick man's delight, her punishment was drawn out and severe that day. It was a long time later when she tearfully told the Doctor what she had learned about the rapid healing. He said she was brilliant for figuring it out and that he was so relieved it wasn't anything that would hurt her, but she could tell he'd had his own hopes dashed by the look on his face.


	28. Chapter 28

_**Big, huge violence/angst warning for this chapter (and the next one). If you would rather skip the graphic violence part, please feel free to PM me and I can give you a toned down summary. I don't want anyone to read something they aren't comfortable with! **_

_**I hope this isn't quite as painful to read as it was to write...**_

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It's funny how even after months of torture to remind Rose of the ultimatum she was faced with, it came almost as a surprise to her when Madame had finally had enough. Rose woke in the same dreary room strapped in the same claustrophobic way to the same metal table as countless times before, but this time the sight she was greeted with was Madame instead of Handsy looming over her. Rose jumped at the woman's unexpected proximity, but recovered quickly and glared at her non-patched eye. A few weeks ago, Rose might have spit at her too, but lately she had been trying to be on better behavior to buy more time for her and the Doctor's covert distress message to bring them help. This waiting and playing nice thing wasn't like them at all, but Rose supposed it wasn't the worst thing they'd ever had to do to get out of a spot of trouble. It took restraint she didn't always have the energy for, but she did it for the Doctor when she couldn't do it for herself.

Madame continued to stare down at her with such intensity that Rose felt like the woman was trying to see right through her. After a few tense seconds of this bizarre staring contest, it became clear to Rose that this was more than just a show of intimidation. She felt her stomach plummet and gasped as the truth sank in. Madame was tired of waiting.

"Ah, there now. I think we understand each other," Madame smiled in that off-putting way of hers, "I wanted you to have no doubts about my sincerity when I told you that this is your last chance. Either you will start a sexual relationship with the Time Lord, or tomorrow you will die. I might even make him watch. Think that would work? Or would that juts make him too upset to comply when we bring in Melissa." Rose felt sick at the thought of another innocent girl thrust into this nightmare she'd been living. "Oh yes, we already have a replacement for you. I'm quite ready to speed things along," Madame smiled cooly.

Rose felt that coldness seep into her entire being. The sliver or relief that the execution wasn't scheduled for this moment was overpowered by the knowledge that she only had one more day to live. In some ways, she wished they would just get it over with since Madame and she had both made up their minds - a fatal game of "agree to disagree." Rose didn't know how she could stand it, watching the hours until her death tick away. And what about the Doctor? She would need to tell him, but how? How did one go about saying goodbye to the love of their life? Her stomach rolled again just thinking about it.

The last thing she wanted to do in front of Madame was cry, but the tears came anyway, blurring her vision until the moisture spilled down her cheeks. In the darkest times since she'd been trapped here, the moments right before she passed out from the intensity of the pain, death had sometimes seemed an almost seductive option. She was sure she had even begged for it on more than one occasion during the past few weeks. In those moments, she had thought the nothingness of death would surely be blissful when compared to such all-consuming agony. But now that she was truly faced with the end, she knew she would take anything they could throw at her in exchange for life. That was the thing, wasn't it? As long as she was breathing, there was hope. But death destroyed that. Death took all opportunity away, leaving only tragedy and should-have-beens. She didn't want to go. She didn't want to leave the Doctor on his own. Melissa, whoever the poor girl was, didn't count. The Doctor, for some reason Rose would never understand, needed _her_. She couldn't leave him.

Rose felt in this moment that she would do anything to live, anything to stay. Her eyes widened with this realization and she wondered…would she really? Would she really do _anything_? She needed time to sort through these thoughts flitting chaotically through her mind - time for them to coalless into some kind of decision or plan. But time was not something she was granted.

With a smirk, Madame walked away, pausing to pat Handsy on the head on her way out. Such a careless little gesture - Madame probably hadn't spared a thought about it. But that small act was just patronizing enough to finally shatter the man who had been hanging on by a thread for years. Rose's felt a jolt of fear as she watched the madness in Handsy's eyes finally consume him. Funny that her torturer should break before she did. Well, maybe funny wasn't the right word. As Handsy looked directly into Rose's eyes, seeming to promise every horror she could imagine and then some, she realized terrifying was far more accurate.

Rose didn't have twenty-four hours to live. Not anymore. She would be lucky if she made it twenty-four minutes with this crazed man.

Her body froze at the realization, limbs suddenly so heavy she didn't think she could move even if she was released from the tight bonds securing her to the table. She couldn't even blink as long as Handsy's wide, bloodshot gaze was locked on her. She tried to scream, to alert Madame, someone, anyone, but her voice came out as no more than a rasp. She gasped and heaved, heart rate monitor beeping furiously in the background, but it was no good. Her vocal cords remained stubbornly paralyzed in this one moment when she needed them the most. It was like a nightmare. This surely had to be a nightmare. But it wasn't.

Handsy remained eerily still for several seconds after Madame left the room. He stood and watched Rose struggle to scream with a manic smile grotesquely distorting his features. Finally, he turned to lumber over to the door Madame had exited through and shoved a thick metal bar through the handle. It would take a large amount of force for the outward swinging door to open against the obstruction.

Free from the grip of his paralyzing stare, Rose finally regained her voice and ability to move. But it was too late. She was trapped. Rose screamed and thrashed against her bindings, but no one came. She thought she heard pounding on the door, but the sound was no more than pathetic against the thick steel that separated her from any kind of help.

Handsy's eyes burned with the fire of insanity as he bore down on her, muttering unintelligibly and adjusting the thick rings that dotted his knuckles. She braced for the first blow, but Handsy moved right past her to fiddle with something out of her line of sight. Before she could crane her neck around to see what he was doing, her bindings clicked open. Rose was so surprised with the sudden freedom that it took her a second to react. The hesitation cost her.

Handsy yanked her off the metal table by her shirtfront and threw her towards the gritty cement floor. Somehow, she managed to roll into the fall and came back at him with a kick to his lower knee that sent him sprawling. It wasn't her best form, but it did the trick. Invigorated by her newfound freedom, she felt some of the fear melt away and readied to level a counterattack. She wondered if what had seemed like a nightmare seconds ago was going to turn into the chance she had craved to put Handsy in his place. She wouldn't kill him, though perhaps he deserved it. She may have once been a goddess of time, but it was no longer up to her to decide such matters of life and death. She _could_ decide to make him sorry he had ever laid a hand or damaging instrument on her.

While they were both still on the floor, Rose spun around and kneed him in the face. She grinned as she felt the satisfying crack of his nose breaking. She didn't waste any time gloating, already planning her next move as she clamored to her feet.

But she never got the chance to land the kick her body was prepared to deliver next. Before she was fully upright, the world caught fire, her muscles seized, and every neuron in her body burned. _The electrodes_, she remembered in a haze of agony as her twitching body hit the ground. She still had the electrode pads plastered to her chest and abdomen. And it appeared Handsy had the remote that activated them. _Cheater,_ she thought as she gasped for breath and fought the black spots that dotted her vision. She realized that freeing her from the bindings had been a show. Handsy had never intended this to be a fair fight, just the illusion of one. "Coward," she murmured as soon as she could draw in a breath.

He was on her before she had time to recover, kicking her in the stomach with a scream of rage. Rose struggled to take in a breath only to have it ripped from her a moment later in a scream of pain as Handsy stomped on her chest. The blows continued, too many and too quick for her increasingly sluggish body to defend against.

After she was beaten to the point of incapacitation, he pulled her up a half meter off the floor by her hair and whispered in her ear. She was just able to hear him over her own ragged wheezing.

"Did you know they were going to make it quick 'n easy for you, luv?" He sounded pained merely at the thought, "Just a little injection. And where would that have left ol' Handsy, eh? The most I would have gotten out of you was a twitch or two. Maybe a proper seizure if I was lucky. No, that just wasn't good enough. After all this time we've spent together, the relationship we worked so hard to build…I wanted to do this properly. Welcome to the grand finale, luv."

Rose was beyond frantic. She jerked and fought against his grasp despite the stabs of pain each movement sent through her body. She knew on some level that she didn't have the strength or enough functional limbs left to fight back, but she writhed and struggled with everything she had anyway. Adrenaline was surely masking some of the pain, but she was nearly delirious with what broke through.

He threw her back to the floor and a new wave of blows pummeled her body. She heard the cracking of bones, but it became somewhat distant, blending into the overall agony that consumed her.

Then there was nothing for a few moments, a short reprieve. She gritted her teeth against the pain and was just able to roll over to her side before she was kicked back into a supine position and a different kind of pain entered the mix. There was a sharp sting on her face, across her stomach…it came at her again and again just as relentless as the blows had been. _Handsy did like his scalpel_, she remembered dimly.

She smelled blood, could taste it and see it when her eyes managed to flutter open. She thought that this would be the last things she knew, the blood and the pain. Her vision started to fade, dimmer and dimmer with each beat of her stuttering heart. Rose had always thought she'd think of loved ones in the end, or watch as her life flashed before her eyes, or something equally poetic. But as she felt herself slipping away, she could hardly form a coherent thought beyond the agony and a weak flicker of regret. "Doctor," she may have murmured. Or it may have just been a wisp of thought that floated through a dying mind.

But then, there was a deafening sound and the room was flooded in light and dust. Uniformed men poured through a gaping hole in the wall, and with a loud pop, a bullet stopped Handsy's relentless attack and dimmed the madness in his eyes forever. Things blurred.

Voices real or perhaps imagined filtered through her consciousness. She caught things like, "Med team, now!" and "This wasn't part of the plan!" _Oh, Madame was very cross, wasn't she. _Rose might has smiled if she'd been able to.

"She's crashing," someone yelled, and Rose wondered who was crashing and into what. She felt a strange, gurgling coming from her chest and then Rose Tyler floated away into nothing.


	29. Chapter 29

**Warning from last chapter continues...**

* * *

The Doctor was in the loo when he heard the door to the room hiss open. It wasn't the first time he hadn't been hovering as close as the door's proximity sensors would allow when Rose returned from a session. Once he had dozed off while reading, and two other times he had been attending to nature when she got back. Each time he felt a pang that he wasn't there to greet her, and this time was no different. He wanted to be with her as soon as possible and check her over to calm the anxiety that inevitably built up while she was away. It was even worse now that he knew what they were doing to her.

Still, best not to be too clingy. He hurried to finish his business and wash up, but made himself slow down enough that she wouldn't hear him banging around the loo in a tizzy. He knew from experience that would just provide her ammunition to tease him for the next several days. Then again, there were worse things than being teased by Rose Tyler. Especially if she did that thing where she bit her tongue when she smiled. He wondered if she knew how much he loved it when she did that. _Probably, _he mused with a grin.

He sauntered out the washroom door, putting on the perfect facade of nonchalance, though in reality he was tingling with anticipation to have her in his arms again.

"And what time do you call this? You're nearly late for dinner, you know. I even…" he trailed off, frowning and raising an eyebrow when he didn't see his favorite human standing where she should be, "Rose? You here? I could have sworn I heard…ROSE! Oh - oh no. No!" He felt the blood in his veins turn to ice as his eyes were drawn to the stark anomaly in the otherwise familiar room.

A bloodied, lifeless arm rested in the middle of a crimson puddle, just visible sticking out of the front hallway. A pale and lifeless arm, that was likely attached to a pale and lifeless Rose.

_No! No no no no no!_

For a few terrible seconds, he was frozen in place, vocal cords equally paralyzed, though is mind was screaming her name. His legs lost tone and he was only able to remain standing by leaning heavily on the nightstand. He felt his heartsbeat resonate throughout his entire body, his fingers twitching slightly with each paired thump.

_Oh Rose, why aren't you moving?_

After a deep, shuddering inhalation, his body was back under his command.

He rushed towards her, the need to be near her overpowering the fear of what he'd find when he entered the short hallway.

Even in the fraction of a second it took for him to round the corner, his big impressive brain took in and analyzed every little detail available to him. He saw that the pool of blood the arm rested in was growing. Growing, not stagnant. That was important. It meant she was actively bleeding. While generally not good, in this case it was a promising sign that her heart was still beating. Or the floor was sloped.

When he finally collapsed at her side and took in the state of her, he let out a strangled cry. The second option was surely the only possibility.

His Rose was broken. She was damaged beyond anything he'd ever seen, or very nearly. There was so much blood and she was bent awkwardly, bones sticking out in several places.

_Help her! _his brain commanded when he froze again, staring in horror at her shattered body. But he didn't even know where to start. He decided on vitals, since the small rational voice that was left in his head told him that was important. He leaned down by where her face was pressed into the concrete - _oh Rassilon, they just dumped her in here like rubbish, didn't they? - _and checked for breath. There wasn't any. He panicked for a moment, rolling her from where she had been laying in a heap on her left side, to her back. "CPR," he mumbled to himself, "I need to do CPR. But no…wait. You're not supposed to move the - the victim. Oh, oh no. Oh, what did I do!?" He'd killed her. She would have been fine, everything would have been fine, but then he'd gone and manhandled her and now she was dead. How could he have been so bloody stupid!?

Except then he heard a rattling breath. He zeroed in on the impossible sound, and when it was followed by another wheezy inhalation, he watched in awe as her chest rose and fell once again. It was misshapen, not how a chest should look - all caved in and harsh angles, but it was no longer still. She'd probably been unable to breath with the broken ribs pushing into her lungs in the previous position. But now, oh thank Rassilon, she was breathing! She was alive! With that knowledge, his mind cleared a fraction. He would save her. If he had to MacGyver an entire A&amp;E out of eating utensils and toiletries, he would do it.

His initial inclination had been right, so he finished checking her vitals. Her breathing was labored, but her heartbeat was steady enough. Not as regular or as strong as he would like, but beating in general was good enough for now, especially with how much blood she'd lost. He looked down at the crimson pool he was kneeling in and wondered how it was possible that there was so much of it from such a small person.

He squeezed his eyes shut and shoved the threatening panic back down. Once he was able to think again, he moved on to checking her head and neck for injuries. Nothing life-threatening there. Good. Now her abdomen and torso. He knew there would be internal bleeding and dreaded what he'd find under her shirt. Humans' ribcages couldn't be shaped like hers was without massive trauma underneath. He lifted what was left of her torn shirt with shaking hands and was surprised to find a long incision running the length of her belly and chest. The cut was clumsily stitched together and must be cauterized by the lack of blood seeping from it. There were more stitched wounds staggered up the side of her chest where he assumed the sites of compound fractures had been. His gaze caught on several overlapping large oval burns on either side of her heart. Had they used crash paddles on her? Forced a still heart back into rhythm and then repaired the damage to her vital organs? It certainly looked like they had operated on her. But then why hadn't they bothered to set her ribs? Or address her other injuries? Why had they done this to her in the first place?! No. No, he'd make sense of how all this fit into the larger game later. Right now he just needed to get Rose stabilized.

In his gentle examination of her belly, he felt some, but not massive amounts of bleeding. There was one spot that was hard and warm on her upper left side that he didn't like, but he thought that if he could get her into a proper sleep, there was a good chance she could survive it without intervention. He moved on to the deep cuts that striped her body. That's where the all blood was coming from. He realized they must have already given her a transfusion for her to still be alive. But she could certainly use another. He slipped and skidded as he jumped up to grab towels, bedsheets -anything he could tear up to use as bandages, and was back by her side less than a minute later. He franticly cleaned her skin with a damp towel so he could see which wounds were the most serious. As he was doing so, he recognized there was a pattern to the cuts on her arms. Letters? He sat back on his heels and read, "She is expendable," along one arm and, "This is your final warning," on the other. His stomach churned and he thought he would be sick for a moment. But that horrifying message they'd carved into her was just another thing that had to wait for later. He cleared his mind once again, and had her bandaged up with strips torn from their bedclothes in under ten minutes. Thank Rassilon for that week he spent as a medic in WWI.

Finally, he took what felt like the first breath since he'd rushed to her side. With his respiratory bypass enhanced with the Time Lord's version of adrenaline, that was entirely possible. He took a few more deep breaths and tried to determine the best way to move her without causing any more damage. In the end, he decided to just pick her up and take her to their stripped bed. He didn't want her waking up on the cold ground laying in a pool of blood. If she ever did wake up, that is.

He set her gently on top of the now bare mattress and re-bandaged a few areas that had been jostled loose when he'd moved her. _Rassilon, there was still so much blood._ He checked her vitals again and once satisfied that there was no major change there, he started setting the bones that had been displaced in her limbs and patching up any sites where a fracture had broken through the skin. There was nothing he could do about her ribs or what he guessed was a broken pelvis without risking damage to internal organs or lower extremity nerves respectively. It was with regret that he moved over those injuries to more straightforward ones like her left wrist and right femur. Once all that was done, he fetched another damp cloth and continued to alternate cleaning her skin, putting pressure on the deeper wounds, and changing her bandages as she bled through them.

At some point, the food trunk clanked opened and he got up to see if there was anything in the dinner delivery that could help Rose. He was rewarded with transfusion material, some gauze, and a tube of ointment that's label told him it would help with healing. He had the IV set up in minutes and started dabbing the ointment on the more serious lacerations as he replaced the soaked linen bandages with gauze. He hoped the ointment was as strong as whatever helped her heal when she slept. That was what she really needed - proper healing sleep. He could patch her up here and there all night, but if she didn't start the accelerated healing process, she wouldn't make it through the night. If only he had access to the TARDIS…

He went back to the table that was now set for dinner. For a moment he was furious at the nerve of their captors for setting the table as if it were just another day - as if Rose wasn't fighting for her life because of them. He grabbed a cup of ice water, scowling at the food for it's mocking symbolism. After a moment's consideration, he also grabbed a handful of steaming chips.

He was out of clean cloth, so he dunked a soiled toilette in the ice water and began lightly rubbing it across her forehead, allowing the water to drip into her blood-matted hair. When that didn't work, he tried rubbing ice cubes over her neck and lips.

"Come on, Rose. I need you to wake up, love. Can you do that for me? I…please Rose. Please wake up." His voice broke as he begged, but she didn't respond. She was as still as ever, only her ragged breathing letting him know she was still there, still alive.

Feeling daft, but desperate, he waved a chip under her nose and forced a light and inviting tone to his voice, "Roooooose. I've got chips, Rose. C'mon. Wakey Wakey. It's chips time."

Oh, and of course that was what finally did it. Rose smacked her lips a few times before her eyes fluttered open. He grinned widely even as tears of relief momentarily blurred his vision.

He wanted to say something witty and comforting, but couldn't seem to manage more than his watery smile.

"Doctor?" she mumbled, her eyes slightly glazed but at least focused in his general direction.

"Yeah," he managed after swallowing thickly, "I'm right here, love."

"Chips?" she asked in a soft, raspy voice. He laughed.

"Yeah, I got chips. 'Course I got chips. You up for a few nibbles?"

She nodded her head, but then cried out in pain from the movement.

"Hey, hey," he cupped her shoulder to steady her, "It's alright. Just be still, yeah. I'll feed you. No problemo. See? Here ya go. Open up," he placed the chip up to her cracked lips and she opened her mouth to take a small bite.

"There ya go! Rose Tyler, you and your chips," he laughed through his tears.

After a few more bites she looked up at him through heavy lidded eyes, "Doctor, what happened. I feel…I dunno, I don't feel so good. Did you crash the TARDIS again?"

Oh. She was confused. He told himself it was to be expected and he shouldn't think about things like brain damage yet. It was more important to keep her calm so she would be able to fall asleep.

He made sure to school his features so he wouldn't scare her before he replied, "Eh, just a bit of a run in with some unfriendly locals. Nothing new. Nothing a little sleep won't take care of. You tired?" he asked hopefully.

"Mmmmm," she said, which he took as an affirmative.

"Good, that's…blimey that's good. Just let me check your eyes, yeah, and then you can sleep for as long as you want," he promised. He wanted to make sure he wasn't missing a head injury.

Rose didn't put up any resistance as he checked her pupils, but she made a sound of protest when he pulled away and sat back on his heels, "Stay?" she asked fingers twitching a if she wanted to reach towards him.

"Of course." He nodded even though her eyes were already closed.

"Hold me?" her voice was more vulnerable than he'd ever heard it and barely above a whisper. He wondered if she had more awareness of her condition than she was letting on.

"Always," he murmured as he carefully brought her into his arms and settled back into the pillows.

Finally, after a few agonizing minutes, she fell into a proper sleep. Instead of relaxing now that Rose was on the path to survival, all the emotions he had caged in broke free in an overwhelming wave. He realized his hands were shaking and his breath hitched as he fought back all out sobs. He knew he needed to stop jostling her, but he couldn't seem to get ahold of himself. Rose furrowed her brow in her sleep and he knew if he continued like this, he'd wake her up. He couldn't let that happen. Focusing inward, he found the area of his brain that produced five of the eight Time Lord calming hormones and hurried to activate it. He was perhaps a little over-exuberant in the act, not used to needing to take such direct measures to regulate himself. Within seconds he felt himself dozing off alongside Rose.

The Doctor woke in a panic. How could he have let himself sleep!? Rose needed him! Rose…

She was laying next to him drawing lazy patterns on the back of his hand with one of the fingers that hadn't been broken. "Hello," she smiled tiredly. That was all it took and he fell to pieces.

He sobbed into her matted hair, relief and the aftershocks of fear making his body quake. She rubbed soothingly at his skin wherever she could easily reach which was only his hand, wrist, and stomach.

"I wish I could hold you," Rose said tearfully after a few minutes, "S' just, it still hurts too much. I don't think I can sit up yet."

Maybe she couldn't sit, but he certainly could. He shot up, horrified that he'd assumed she was completely healed. He licked at the air and realized only a couple hours had passed. She was still very much in danger, especially with that area of internal bleeding he'd found.

"Hey, it's ok," she tried to raise her arm to touch his face, but after a grimace she had to give it up. He laid back down next to her on his side and helped guide her hand to his face. She cupped his cheek and wiped at his tears with her thumb. He did the same for her.

"No it's not," he rasped. "Oh Rose, it's really, really not. I'm so sorry."

"Yeah, I guess s' not really ok, but s' not your fault either. Do you know what happened? Did they tell you? Because I think I remember now. Some of it, at least. Sorry I blamed everything on you crashing the TARDIS before," she smiled briefly until it turned into another grimace. She must be in so much pain. Why couldn't they have added medicine for that to the materials they'd sent through the trunk?

"What happened?" he asked because he couldn't help himself.

"Things kinda got out of hand," she started with another tired smile. Her voice was so weak. It gutted him to see her like this.

"Yeah, I kind of reckoned," he nodded lamely.

"It was bad enough even before anyone touched me. Madame came in and told me this was my last chance," the Doctor took a sharp breath at that. He thought of the message to him that was etched into her arms and shivered.

Rose continued, pausing every few words to whimper or take a few shallow breaths, "But then she left and Handsy wasn't satisfied with how they had planned to kill me tomorrow. Lethal injection, he said. He wanted things more…hands on, I guess. So he barricaded the door and then…he just went mad. I fought back, but…well he made sure it wasn't a fair fight. It was never gunna be a fight I could win."

"Oh, Rose I -"

"Let me finish. Please. It hurts and I just want to…" she took another shaky breath and winced, "They shot him. The guards must 'ave blown through the door and I remember seeing him get shot. Right between the eyes. And then…I dunno, I really thought that was it for me. Everything got fuzzy and confused…I just sorta…drifted away. But I guess not completely, cuz I'm still here," she finished. It took her a minute to catch her breath, her face screwed up in pain the whole time. "You can talk now," she told him with a shadow of her teasing smile once she had recovered a little.

"I…" he knew what he wanted to say, what he'd been wanting to say ever since he'd heard the realities of their situation weeks ago. He had held back many a well-crafted, perfectly logical argument because he thought he couldn't violate the trust she had in him not to pressure her. But right now, what he really couldn't do was lose her. That trumped everything. "Don't leave me," he whispered, closing his eyes from a different kind of pain. He knew he should just keep his mouth shut, knew he shouldn't beg like this, but he wasn't able to stop the words that flowed out between a new wave of desperate sobs. He burrowed his head into the space between Rose's cheek and shoulder and pleaded, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. But…please, Rose. Don't leave me. Whatever it takes. Make…make love to me. Tomorrow, when you're healed. It's not how I wanted…I know you didn't want…not like this…but it'll buy us time. That's what we need, Rose. More time. Nine months is more than double the time we've been here. And once we…once we conceive, they wouldn't dare hurt you. It won't be like it's been. We'll figure something out. We will, I promise. Please, I...I love you. I love you so much Rose and I can't lose you. Please don't make me. Please, Rose. Please…"

She ran her hand through his hair and whispered soothing nonsense as he shook with sobs. Time Lords weren't supposed to cry, weren't supposed to feel anything so deeply that they could be moved to tears. But then again, Time Lords weren't supposed to fall in love, not with a species as fragile as humans anyway. They weren't supposed to be trapped in a single room cut off from the balming hum of their TARDIS for months and watch their love slowly break under torture either. But he knew he wouldn't give up one second of loving her, even as he was reduced to this shaking mass of flesh.

His only regret was that he had finally said he loved her and the moment was tarnished by the context. He hadn't meant to say the words. Not now. Not like this. But after he'd thought he lost her and with the threat of losing her still, it just came out. What if she thought he only said it to get her to sleep with him? He couldn't stand her thinking he didn't truly mean the words when the truth was he felt them with every fiber of his being, every beat of his hearts. He needed to calm down so he could tell her, apologize, let her know he'd been in love with her since the beginning. But he just continued to cry.

After what seemed like hours, he gained some sort of control over himself. He was about to take it all back when his brilliant Rose answered the question that should have never been asked of her in the first place, "Yeah." It was barely more than a breath. He looked over and saw her eyes pinched closed and leaking tears.

"Rose?" he tried to keep the relief out of his voice, but knew he failed.

"Yeah. I'll do it. I mean, we - we should do it. You're not forcing me. I think I had already decided when Madame said this was my last chance. I just…I don't want to die," she whimpered, "M' not ready. And I love you too much to leave you all alone. I know it's not how we wanted things to be, and I never wanted to be a mum, but I realized I'd do anything to stay with you. A bit scary, that. But what can I say, I promised a mad alien forever and I'm not ready to break that promise. Nine months to figure something out sounds better than nine hours. So yes, we'll do it. Tomorrow. After I'm feeling better. You just have to promise me it won't end up killing you. I need to know you'll fight the timelines or fixed points or whatever it was Madame was talking about."

"With everything I have," he promised, grabbing her hand and squeezing as hard as he dared with her injuries.

"Alright then," he was surprised that while still exhausted, she sounded lighter. Was it possible she was as relieved as he was? "Tomorrow I'm seducing you," she smiled his favorite smile and even managed to turn her head in his direction this time.

"I look forward to it," he grinned and leaned over to press a gentle kiss to her lips. "But Rose, you really need to sleep." He didn't say out loud that she wasn't out of the woods yet. The longer she was awake, the greater the chance she could pass out from pain or go into shock. As he caressed her forehead, he could feel she was already clammy and beginning to tremble. He couldn't let anything happen that would stall her healing. As it was, he wasn't sure even a full night's rest would be enough this time.

"Yeah," she said softly, "'S just…it hurts." Her voice cracked on the last word and he had to fight to keep the amount of composure he'd just recently gotten back.

"I know love, I know. Just…please try?" Oh how he wished there was something more he could do to help her. Then he realized that there was. He eased her limp form back into his arms and started sending her telepathic projections that immersed them in beautiful scenery from a hundred different planets. He tweaked the link so that he was taking on all the strain of the connection so she could relax. As soon as one vision faded, he'd take a breath and send them into another. Slowly, the tight lines of pain on Rose's face relaxed and she finally drifted back to sleep. He hoped the pain wouldn't follow her there. Though it exhausted him, he kept up the projections just in case it helped her in even some small way.

Some time later, he woke with a start for the second time that night and wondered when he became so bloody awful at staying awake. He remained still, unwilling to wake the woman thankfully still asleep in his arms. The clatter that woke him must mean breakfast was being delivered, although his time sense said it wasn't morning yet. And it was still rather dark in the room. Perhaps just more supplies for Rose then. He tried to determine the best way to untangle himself from their embrace without disrupting her life-saving slumber. He needed to see what had been delivered and then check how she was doing…

BANG!

His thoughts were interrupted as the vent cover flew off the wall and clattered to the floor just missing the base of the bed. Hearts racing, the Doctor shot up onto his elbows for a better look just in time to see a large, grey shape fall out of the newly opened hole in the wall.

The shape uncurled into the figure of a beaming Jack Harkness. "Did someone order a rescue!?" he boomed grandly.


	30. Chapter 30

Jack Harkness would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy charging in like a proper hero and saving the day. It wasn't just that heroes had a tendency to get laid, although that was a nice perk. After being a conman with shady morals for so many years, it felt damn good to have people look at him all glowing and grateful. Yeah, he would still get run out of town now and then when things got too crazy, but these days people generally looked up to him. Like his team at Torchwood. He'd gotten himself a strange little dysfunctional family going on there. He loved them…some more than others. Owen, the team's doctor was a complete wanker most of the time, but he got the job done and sometimes even cared about people a little. Gwen was the newest recruit, and she gave the team a much needed window into real life. She'd managed to hang onto her boyfriend and civilian friends, reminding the rest of the team that there was life outside of work. Tosh seemed to miss that memo though. That girl had put in more all-nighters hacking into databases and building supercomputers than anyone in his long tenure working for Torchwood. And then, there was Ianto. _His_ Ianto, as of late. They were still at the stage where Jack got a big goofy grin on his face every time he thought of the adorable Welshman. Life, in general, was pretty good. And he had a feeling that it was about to get even better.

He stopped to check the map on his vortex manipulator, one of the few functions that still worked on the thing after the Doctor had set his sonic to it. Nearly there. Jack always liked a good rescue, and now that the damsels in distress were two of his best friends, he was nearly out of his skin with anticipation. He couldn't wait to see them again. It had been several months since he'd last seen the Doctor and over a century since he'd last seen Rose. The Doctor had said she was lost forever to a parallel universe, but to be honest, Jack wasn't all that surprised when the distress call he received three weeks ago had her signiature on it along side the Doctor's. That girl wasn't really concerned with concepts like impossibility. He bet there was a rather fantastic story there and he couldn't wait to hear it right from the source.

With his destination beckoning, he sped up and only stopped when he ran headlong into the dead end of the branch of tunnel he was crawling through. _Bloody hell,_ he thought as he rubbed the sore spot on his forehead. He checked over his shoulder to make sure no one had seen. Nope, the rest of the gang was either still catching up or busy with their own tasks elsewhere. Good. He shook it off and set about cutting through the welding that surrounded the last obstacle between him and his friends. He had already disabled the other defenses guarding the vent cover when he infiltrated the station's main computer. Or rather, Tosh had. He used some of the tools he had nicked from a supply room to cut through the final bit of welding and pushed against the metal cover. It popped out easier than he had expected and Jack lost his balance, tumbling out into the room in a heap. Not the most dignified entrance, but he was quick to recover, scrambling to his feet and beaming at the room's occupants.

"Did someone order a rescue?!" he spread his hands wide and scanned the room for his friends.

In the dim light, he could just barely make out two figures wrapped around each other on a large bed. If luck was on his side, he had caught them shagging. Jack's grin widened at that prospect as he fished the clicker that controlled the lights out of his pocket and brightened up the room. What the light illuminated wiped the smirk right off his face.

"Shit!" he swore, swallowing down the bile that rose in his throat.

For a horrible moment, he thought he was too late. Both of his friends were covered in blood. Rose was heavily bandaged and laying so still against the Doctor's chest. When Jack met the Doctor's eyes, he saw a desperation from the ancient alien that cut right through him.

"Oh god," he breathed, losing his grip on the clicker and hardly noticing the sound it made at it catered to the floor.

"Jack," the Doctor hissed, "turn off the lights and be quiet! She can't wake up yet!" Jack was too stunned to comply, watching Rose intently for any sign of life.

She finally stirred and Jack let out the breath he'd been holding. Oh thank the gods! But the Doctor didn't look so happy. His eyebrows were pinched together with worry as he maneuvered himself into a sitting position with Rose's head cradled in his lap.

"Doctor?" she mumbled as she blinked her eyes open. It should have been fantastic to hear her voice after so long. But it wasn't. Not like this. The pain and fear that laced her words were like knifes to his heart.

"Shhhh, love, it's fine. Just go back to sleep. I've got you," the Doctor leaned over Rose and brushed the hair back from her face. He was totally focused on her as if Jack wasn't even in the room.

"But…I thought I heard…" Rose looked out at the room and gasped when she finally saw Jack.

"Hey Rosie," he said softly.

"Jack? But…how? What!? Doctor?" She was switching her gaze rapidly between the two men.

Jack approached the side of the bed slowly, trying to keep his eyes on his friends faces instead of cataloguing Rose's extensive injuries.

"I got your message," he explained, "I'm, uh, here to rescue you. And stuff." He chuckled lightly and shook his head, "I had meant that to sound more heroic."

Rose laughed though her eyes were suspiciously moist, "But…how? How are you here? I thought you were dead! The game station…"

Jack glanced up at the Doctor and took in the minute shake of the man's head. He obviously hadn't told her yet. And now certainly wasn't the time. The Doctor had gone on about regeneration sickness and Jack being wrong before, but Jack guessed that the real reason the Doctor had never come back for him was that he was protecting Rose from knowing what she had done as the Bad Wolf.

"Naw, I was fine, though it was a close thing. The Daleks had me cornered and were yelling 'EXTERMINATE!' and then they all just evaporated. Can you imagine? I'm assuming you two had something to do with that," he winked.

"Yeah, um yeah we did. But then…oh god! Oh, Jack! We left you!" Rose's face crumpled. She tried to sit up but cried out in pain at the abrupt motion. Both Jack and the Doctor's hands shot out to support her.

"Easy," the Doctor murmured as the two men helped her sit up more slowly. The look on the Doctor's face clearly showed that he'd rather be tucking her back in. As soon as she was sitting at the side of the bed and had taken a few breaths, she gingerly leaned over and wrapped her arms around Jack's middle. Not knowing the state of her injuries, he returned the hug with the slightest amount of pressure. But even this weak embrace felt like home.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered into his chest, "We didn't know."

Jack met the Doctor's eyes over Rose's head. "Hey, it's ok," he said, speaking to both of them, "I found my way. And right now I'm just happy to see you both again."

After a few more moments Jack released her and cupped her chin, "Alright?" he asked.

"Yeah," she smiled, "Oh Jack, it's so good to see you!" He beamed back at her and then zeroed in on the Doctor, "And you, you dashing alien, c'mere!" He leaned over and tugged the protesting Doctor into a bear hug.

"Oh really, Jack," the Doctor sputtered when Jack ended the embrace with a wet kiss to his lips.

Rose giggled. "You haven't changed a bit!"

Oh she had no idea. Best to keep it that way for now, though. "You betcha!" he winked again at her.

"So, you two ready to bust this joint?" he asked.

"God yes!" Rose grinned, "You have impeccable timing Jack. Things were about to go pear shaped."

"About to?" Jack questioned, glancing down at her bandages.

"Ok, about to go _more_ pear shaped," she rolled her eyes as if _he_ was the one being ridiculous.

"I'm assuming you have a plan Captain?" the Doctor cut in, getting right down to business. Jack didn't miss the wary glance he shot in Rose's direction, as if he expected her to keel over any second. "And thanks for coming," the Doctor added, when he looked back up at Jack.

Jack was surprised by how completely genuine the Doctor sounded. Maybe he wasn't the only one who had changed.

Jack opened his mouth to answer when a couple of loud thumps followed by a vicious round of swearing echoed from within the vent tunnel.

"JACK HARKNESS, I WILL PERSONALLY SAW OFF YOUR KNEECAPS IF YOU LEFT ME TO GET LOST IN THESE BLOODY TUNNELS!"

Jack looked back towards the Doctor and took in his friend's wide grin at the sound of the woman's voice that was steadily getting louder.

"I MEAN IT, YOU PSEUDO-CAPTAIN OF NOTHING! AND THE DUST IN HERE! AT THE VERY LEAST YOU'RE BUYING ME A NEW PAIR OF TROUSERS! IN THE QUEEN'S NAME I SWEAR —EEEEEAAAAAHHHHH!"

Jack neatly caught Donna as she tumbled out of the tunnel. She rewarded him for his gallantry with a slap to his shoulder an scowl, "What were you thinking, taking off like that!? You had the only bloody map! And I don't even want to think of how bruised my legs are from running into every bloody piece of metal sticking out in the whole tunnel system!"

"Donna!" Gods bless the Doctor for saving Jack from the rest of that. Jack liked Donna, he really did, but the woman could get downright scary when she was angry and on a roll.

"Oi! Put me down, Harkness!" he eagerly complied, "And you, you skinny alien git!" She poked the Doctor sharply in the chest when he bounded over for a hug, "What were you thinking running off on me on some backwater planet! Took me four hours to find the TARDIS again! And where's this Rose of yours?! I need to meet the girl mad enough to…oh." Donna had finally noticed said mad girl and her less than healthy state.

"Hello," Rose smiled and wiggled her fingers in a small wave, "You must be Donna! The Doctor's told me loads about you!"

Donna gaped at her for a few seconds, "Blimey, you look like you've been through the ringer!"

"Er, yeah, sorta," Rose laughed and then winced.

"What's going on spaceman?!" Donna demanded, rounding on the Doctor with hands on her hips. Jack was eager to find out as well. If for no other reason than to find out who hurt Rose so he could make them sorry they had ever touched her. He figured he'd probably have to get in line behind the Doctor.

"Later," the Doctor said tersely, "The bottom line is that we need to get out of here and Rose need's to go back to sleep as soon as possible," he held up a hand as both Jack and Donna started to protest, "I promise I'll explain everything later. So, plan. What is it?"

Jack gritted his teeth in irritation, but decided he trusted the Doctor enough to leave it for now. He took a deep breath and jumped into the explanation like this was any other Torchwood mission, "Alright, Tosh and I hacked into the main computer and disabled some of the lower priority locks. So doors are still a no-go, but things like windows and, well vent covers obviously, are open. We need to get back to the secondary loading dock where our get-away ship is parked. I have my vortex manipulator, but even _when_ the Doctor fixes it," Jack emphasized the "when" even though he had little hope the Doctor actually would deliver, "it won't work in this bridge dimension. So space travel it is. I'm hoping that since we avoided the main docking station and hacked the surveillance system, we haven't been detected yet. Martha and Owen created quite the distraction as well." Jack noted the slight grin the Doctor got at the mention of yet another past companion's name. "We'll go back through the ventilation tunnels and meet the gang in wing C, right near the loading dock. Security's lighter there, so we should be able to get through the rest of the doors with this baby," he pulled the sonic screwdriver out of his pocket and tossed it to the Doctor who made a delighted sound at being reunited with his favorite accessory, "And, easy-peasy, we're back on my ship and heading home. Sound good?"

"No," the Doctor's smile dropped and he shook his head vehemently. "Rose isn't up for it. Not for crawling through tunnels and running through hallways. There has to be a different way."

"Doctor," Rose rolling her eyes from her place on the bed, "I'm fine. This seems like our best shot, yeah?" then looking to Jack, "Sounds good. Let's do it."

"Rose…" the Doctor walked over to kneel down in front of her. He placed his hands on her knees and looked at her seriously, "You're not healed yet, not even close. It's too dangerous to try anything that strenuous right now. Your body isn't ready. Any slight provocation could cause a bone to re-break or a wound to rupture. I can't take that chance."

Rose reached to cup the Doctor's face, "It's me who's takin' the chance, yeah? So it's me to makes the decision. And I say let's go. Or what is it you always say? Allons-y? I'll be fine. 'M not saying it'll be fun, but I think I can do it. You'll be right there to help me, yeah? And anyway, we have to try. 'M not stayin' here."

"There's got to be some other -" the Doctor whispered urgently, but Jack cut him off. "There's not."

The Doctor bowed his head in defeat, "You're sure about this?" he looked to Rose, who nodded. "Can I at least check you over before we go?"

"And what good would that do?" she shook her head, "You'd just worry over every little thing and we've wasted enough time already. Let's get on with it."

Jack had to agree with her. The adrenaline rush from being reunited was wearing off, leaving a sense of urgency in it's place. Just because the room hadn't been stormed by armed guards yet didn't mean it couldn't still happen at any second. "Alright, I'll go first through the vent since I have the map, then Rose and Donna, and Doctor, you'll bring up the rear. Ok?"

He was surprised when he got a nod of assent from everyone, including the Doctor. "Anything you need to pack up from here?"

"No," the Doctor and Rose spoke vehemently as one. Jack wondered what they had been through that made them so eager to leave. Rose's injuries certainly were a clue. He pushed the questions buzzing through his head aside for when they were safe on the getaway ship.

"Alright then. Up I go." Jack climbed on top of the trunk that was just under the vent hole and pulled himself up into the tunnel. He only just had enough room to turn around and reach down for Rose.

But when the Doctor helped her up from the bed, she had hardly taken two steps before her knees buckled and she fell into the Doctor with a cry of pain. Jack swore in several different languages. Why hadn't he thought of this?! It had been so foolishly optimistic to think that both the Doctor and Rose would be in good condition when he found them. The Doctor helped Rose back over to the bed and stared helplessly up at Jack.

"What about a stretcher or something?" Donna suggested, looking between the bed and the vent.

"Not enough room," Jack shook his head, "And we really don't have time to cobble one together."

" The bedspread!" the Doctor held up what was left of it. "Rose, once you get up there, you'll lay on this and we'll pull you through. All you'll have to do is lay there."

"Sorry Doc," Jack shook his head, "theres all kinds of things jutting out. Rose would get pretty banged up, and from what I'm hearing, that's not acceptable."

"Well I have an idea," Rose said, sounding annoyed, "How bout I crawl through like the rest of you?"

No one responded and Rose seemed to take that as acceptance. Jack had to admit he was out of any other option. "Right then, Doctor, help me up there and then let's get a move on."

In some kind of non-verbal compromise they worked out between the two of them, the Doctor instead lifted Rose and carried her to the vent. Jack leaned down and lifted her as gently as he could while the Doctor supported her lower body. She cried out at each adjustment, but wouldn't let them stop. Finally, a last tug brought Rose tumbling into the tunnel to land on top of him. Biting back a suggestive remark, he gently eased her to the tunnel floor and let her catch her breath. When she gave him a nod a minute later, he helped her up onto all fours and calling back to let Donna know she could come up now. With some grunting from both the Doctor and Donna, she made it into the tunnel behind Rose and then the Doctor easily popped himself up to join them.

"Rose?" the Doctor called out.

"Yeah," she winced but only Jack could see her face. Her voice somehow came out downright chipper, "yeah, I'm ok. You?"

"Perfect," the Doctor sounded relieved, "Allons-y!"

They set out much more slowly than when it was just Jack and Donna. He was careful to never get too far ahead and to allow Rose to take as much time as she needed. She was completely silent as they moved and Jack craned his neck over his shoulder several times to make sure she was still with them. Each time, she had the same pained look on her face. Her jaw was clenched tightly and silent tears were running down her cheeks. After ten minutes, Jack couldn't take it anymore.

"Rosie?" he asked.

"What!? What is it!?" the Doctor's anxious voice echoed through the tunnel, but Jack ignored him.

"'M fine," she breathed through clenched teeth, "Keep going. Please. I just need to keep going."

Jack nodded and moved on at an even slower pace. He'd always known she was strong, but damn. There were legendary warlords who would have given up with less pain than she was probably dealing with right now.

They were only a few meters away from the meeting spot when he heard her collapse.

"Rose!" he yelled and quickly contorted his body to turn around and get to her. There was some commotion and he figured the Doctor and Donna were yelling too. But Jacks' focus was on Rose.

She looked up at him, mouth moving, but no sound coming out. He realized she was trying to say she was sorry. "Shit," he cursed again. He looked frantically around the offshoots of the tunnel juncture they were at, but there was nothing of any use. That just left…oh this was not going to be fun for either of them. "I'm so sorry Rose, but this is going to hurt," he warned her. She closed her eyes and nodded, locking her jaw even tighter. "I'm going to have to drag her the rest of the way," he called out behind him.

"I can help," a uncharacteristically subdued Donna offered.

"Be careful, her ribs…" the Doctor warned.

"I know. I'll do my best. Ready Rosie?" Jack asked. She jerked her head into a nod once again but her eyes stayed pinched closed. As carefully as he could, he hooked his arms under hers and started the slow and agonizing process of dragging her through the tunnel as he crawled backwards. She whimpered every time they hit a bump or had to wind around a corner, but otherwise remained just as silent as when she had been crawling. Donna was right at Rose's feet and helped lift her legs over the metal lips or other obstacles. Jack supposed that saved Rose at least some amount of pain. The Doctor remained quiet, probably stewing with anxiety.

Finally, Jack heard the soft murmurs from his team and his foot dangled out into open air.

"About bloody time!" Owen complained in a loud whisper, "We're lucky this station is sparsely populated what with you lot taking your sweet time."

"Can it, Harper!" Jack turned around to stick his head out the opening in the bottom of the tunnel, "Rose is hurt pretty badly," was all he said in explanation. He heard Martha gasp, but the others, including Owen were silent.

Jack turned back around to where Rose was panting on her back. "Hey," she wheezed.

"Hey yourself," he forced a grin. "Do you think you can get yourself down through the hole? I'll get you right up to it and then I'll catch you once I've made it down."

"Yeah. No problem," she winced. He would have to take her word for it because she sure as hell didn't look like she could move much more than a finger under her own power.

He lowered himself down from the gap in the tunnel floor and then readied himself to catch Rose. He heard a muffled scream of agony from Rose and some cursing from Donna and then there was a blonde blur falling into his arms. He tried his best to cushion her fall, but he still heard the sickening sound of bones cracking when she landed. She screamed again, longer this time, and a spasm sent her whole body jerking in his arms. He quickly eased her down to the ground and held her hand as the convulsions and screaming changed to shivers and whimpers. It was all Jack could do not to break down right there.

Someone must have helped Donna and the Doctor down, because the next thing he knew, the Doctor was pushing him aside to get at Rose. She had stopped whimpering and had taken up the hardly convincing mantra of, "I'm ok. I'm ok. I'm ok. I'm ok."

Jack watched as the Doctor ran his hands over Rose's body, frowning several times at what he found. "You're not alright love, but I promise you will be. You hear me?," he asked cupping the sides of her face with his hands. "We're almost to Jack's ship, yeah? Just hang in there for a few minutes for me. Can you do that?"

Rose's face was frighteningly pale and tense with pain, but she managed a nod. "Alright, up we go then." The Doctor placed his arms under her knees and shoulders and stood right up as if she weighed nothing. Jack had always thought the whole skinny but strong thing was a bit strange. But right now he was grateful.

Jack looked around to make sure the rest of the team was there. He took in each of their faces, expressions ranging from shocked to concerned, but didn't stop to explain anything. Now he understood why the Doctor skipped that bit earlier. There were more pressing matters at hand and time was ticking.

"Ok, let's go. We're just in through here…" Jack opened the door to the hanger and jumped back when he was greeted with a small army of heavily armed guards.

"Fuck!" he said as he punched the controls to close and seal the door. The Doctor somehow managed to get ahold of his sonic while still cradling Rose and added a few layers of protection. Hopefully that would hold them for at least a few minutes. But now the bad guys knew where they were and there was no way they would get back to their designated escape ship. Jack turned back to his team. "Guess it's plan B then."


	31. Chapter 31

**Wow! Thank you so much for all of your lovely reviews! Makes me want to get working on the sequel for this story! (Oh, yeah...did I mention this is the first part of a series!?)**

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Donna wasn't the least bit surprised that less than an hour after reuniting with the Doctor, she was running for her life. That man attracted trouble like nothing she'd ever seen! It's true that breaking out of a space station that served as some kind of military base wasn't exactly a safe premise to begin with, but still. They'd broken _in _and traipsed through dozens of rooms and what felt like miles of ventilation tunnels never having to move at more than a brisk walk. Then the Doctor's with them and _BAM!_, they're sprinting away from a pack of armed guards.

Perhaps under different circumstances running with the Doctor again would be fun, brilliant even. Donna had never been an athletic type, and jogging wouldn't be her preferred activity even if she had been, but sprinting away from angry mobs, running through city streets as part of some world-saving mission…it was properly exhilarating, made her feel alive in a way nothing else could - not traveling to Egypt, not even being in love. (But perhaps that was because the object of her affection had been a minion of a giant murderous spider.) Donna hadn't realized how much she'd grown to crave the mad adventuring until she was stranded back on Earth after that bloody Program One thingy brought her home from the dusty market planet. She had wanted to smack the Doctor so badly for that stunt that she had taken a swipe at his hologram. If they all survived this, she was going to sit him down and have a little chat about the whole abandonment thing. Preferably there would be something nearby she could throw at him. Nothing too heavy…he'd appeared to have had a rough time of it lately, after all. A pear would do nicely, maybe a half eaten one. Donna couldn't help but grin at the thought, even as she gasped for breath.

She would have gone barmy these past few months on Earth if Jack hadn't tracked her down and teamed up with her to rescue the Doctor's skinny arse. And as she waited for that particular plan to develop into whatever this was, at least hanging around Torchwood had given her something to do that wasn't completely mundane. It had been interesting and sometimes even exciting work, but she still couldn't wait to get back to traveling time and space with the Doctor. There was nothing like waking up and knowing that there would be a whole new time or planet waiting for her outside of the TARDIS doors.

Some adventures were better than others, of course. And this one was turning out to be quite the doozy. If she wasn't already terrified of being trapped on this bloody space station with violent, hive-minded soldiers and grumpy about her throbbing bruised knees, Rose's near constant whimpers of pain would have been more than enough to take any fun out of this particular mad dash. Donna knew that each heart-wrenching sound out of Rose's mouth was leaving a scar on the Doctor's already battered hearts. She craned her neck to catch a glimpse of the Doctor behind her and cringed at how close to panic her best mate looked. She wanted to do her supportive companion thing and either smack him upside the head or give him a hug, depending on what he needed. But they were kind of busy running for their lives at the moment.

Donna was sure that Jack and the Doctor had done a solid job sealing the door to the hanger, but a piercing alarm had started echoing through the halls soon after they'd encountered the guards there. They'd been discovered, and now reinforcements would be on the way to intercept them. Donna could already hear the heavy footfalls and commanding shouts coming from somewhere behind them. Now would be a fantastic time for one of the Doctor's barmy improvised plans that somehow saved the day. She didn't want to think about what would happen to them if the soldiers caught up to their little band. Of course, it was more likely that the bullets from the guns would find them first. Donna wanted to yell at the Doctor to get his big alien brain working, but was too out of breath to scream over the alarm and keep up their breakneck pace.

Jack somehow managed, contributing to Donna's suspicion that the Captain wasn't quite human, "Any ideas Doc?" he yelled.

"The bridge!" the Doctor yelled back, "Where's the bridge!?"

"Up three levels, then just a few corridors to the left." Jack shouted, "What do you have in mind?"

"I'll know when I get there!" the Doctor bit out. Blimey, even he was panting. Course, he was running at the same pace as everyone else and carrying Rose. There was only so much superior biology could do for a person.

Donna thought the running had been bad, but trying to keep the same pace while racing up stairs was even worse. By the time she was approaching the end of the third staircase, she was pulling herself up using the handrail as much as pushing forward with her burning legs. She spared another quick glance around to see how the others were faring. Everyone had kept up for the most part. Her and the Rose-carrying-Doctor were bringing up the rear. She just barely caught a glimpse of soldiers lunging through the stairwell door three floors down. Well wasn't that just wizard!

A hand reached out and grabbed her arm just as she heard the deafening pops of a round of gunfire coming from below. She struggled against the grip a moment until she realized that the hand belonged to Jack and that he had just pulled her out of the line of fire. _But what about the others?_ she thought desperately. There was no time for her look back and check. The Doctor and Rose had been behind her…

"The others?" she managed to ask Jack between gasps of breath.

"They're fine. C'mon. We have to move!" Jack pulled her through the stairwell door.

As soon as the Doctor, still holding Rose, was through the doorway, Jack and the Doctor turned around and set about ensuring this door was also thoroughly sealed. It was then, as Donna was trying to catch her breath, that she felt the stinging in her arm. She furrowed her brow and went to raise her arm to inspect the injured area. Pain shot from her shoulder to the tips of her fingers, but she held in the gasp that was fighting to escape at the unexpected jolt of discomfort. She didn't want to distract Jack or the Doctor as their hands and sonic flew over the door's locking mechanism.

"Got yourself shot, eh?" Owen managed to drawl as he caught his breath.

"No, I…I must have caught it on something. Clumsy, me," Donna replied shakily. Surely it was nothing. It was just like Owen to stir up trouble in the midst of chaos.

"Who got shot!?" the Doctor yelled, pausing his work on the door to turn towards the rest of the group.

"No one!" Donna reassured him as she angled her body so that her damaged arm was hidden. She could feel the warm flow of blood trickling down her arm and hoped the Doctor hadn't noticed. He had enough to deal with trying finish up with the door and taking care of Rose.

The Doctor went back to work, either satisfied with the answer or realizing whatever happened could be dealt with later. Donna let out a shaky breath.

"Let me see," Martha gently touched Donna's shoulder and whispered at a volume that hopefully the Doctor's super-hearing wouldn't pick up.

"It's fine," Donna hissed back. But after a stern look from Martha, Donna sighed and offered her arm to the young doctor.

"Just a graze," Martha murmured after a few moments of prodding around the injured site as Donna gritted her teeth. "Here, I'll just wrap it up to stop the bleeding."

"No," Donna stilled Martha's hands as she fumbled through her pockets for some bandages. "Rose is gunna need that." The two didn't notice that the Doctor and Jack had rejoined the rest of the group.

"Now see, that looks like a gunshot wound to me. What do you think Jack?" the Doctor's voice broke through Martha and Donna's whispered argument.

"Seems like," Jack nodded. Donna scowled at the both of them. Martha capitalized on her distraction and had the gauss pressed to Donna's arm before she could react.

"Oh really," Donna huffed, "all this fuss." But she held the gauss to her arm with her opposite hand. "You happy now? Can we get a bloody move on?"

"That depends," the Doctor looked concerned, "are you alright?"

"Fine! I'm fine! Which is more than I can say for Mrs. Doctor over here," Donna nodded her head at Rose who seemed only half-conscious now. Or perhaps a bit more aware than Donna had guessed, because the younger woman muttered, "Mrs. Doctor" and giggled. The Doctor pretended not to have heard.

"If you're sure," he did that thing where his gaze seemed to pierce right through her in search of anything she was hiding. When Donna just nodded and rolled her eyes, he finally seemed grudgingly satisfied. "Alright. Jack, lead the way."

And they were off again, though thankfully at a more manageable pace.

As expected, the bridge was guarded, but Jack, Gwen, Owen, and Martha took care of that with some stun bombs Jack had cobbled together on the long space flight from Earth. The Doctor hardly even looked displeased at the use of the weapons. Ianto, bless him, didn't look away in time when the bombs went off and collapsed in a dead faint. _Another one down,_ Donna thought. But Jack and Gwen scooped him up and soon they all were stumbling into the bridge. Another wave of the stun bombs wiped out the soldiers manning the area and the team was efficient in relocating their sleeping bodies to the hallway. Once their group was alone in the bridge room, Donna sagged against the nearest wall of the large room and let out a deep breath. They were finally safe…at least for the moment.

The Doctor rushed over to her, "Donna, can you sit with Rose? I'm going to help Jack with the door." Donna didn't even bother pointing out that she saw through this as a veiled attempt to get her to rest. She just nodded and slid down the wall until she was sitting on the ground. The Doctor gently set Rose down next to Donna, placed a kiss to the girl's forehead, murmured something in her ear that made her smile, and was off assisting Jack. Donna watched Rose as she followed the Doctors retreating form with her tired eyes.

"He'll figure something out," Donna assured Rose, unsure of what else to say to the girl. Donna had always hoped she'd get to meet the human woman who had so besotted the Doctor. Over the months Donna traveled with the Doctor, she had learned little tidbits about his lost love, but she mostly had to fill in the very large gaps with her imagination. Now that she was finally sitting here with Rose, Donna couldn't really think of what to say. She had always thought they'd jump into making fun of the Doctor or swapping adventure stories, but it was hardly the time for that and Rose was clearly not up for it. Donna wasn't sure how she was even managing to remain sitting.

"I know," Rose smiled like she'd never had any doubts.

Tosh, Owen, and Martha came over to join them. Gwen sat with Ianto who was still out cold and slumped against the opposite wall. She caught Donna's eye and rolled her eyes as she gestured to Ianto and mouthed _men_. Donna grinned. Then winced. The throbbing in her arm was intensifying now that the adrenaline from pursuit was fading. That was another good thing about the running; it was a good distraction from any number of unpleasant things. Maybe that's why the Doctor loved it so much. Oh, and now what what she? A bloody Martian shrink?

"Donna you ok?" Tosh's soft voice brought her out of her musings as the sweet, timid girl touched her lightly on her non-injured shoulder.

"Peachy," Donna sighed. It came out a bit more grumpy and sarcastic than she had intended and she softened her tone at the hurt look from Tosh, "It's just a glorified scratch. I'll be fine. Everyone else ok?"

"Seems to be," Tosh nodded but still seemed wary when she looked at Donna's arm. Donna herself had made a point to look anywhere except the injury.

"At least let me wrap you up properly now that we have a second to spare," and now Martha was back to fussing over her. _Just bloody brilliant_. Couldn't they see that Rose was in much worse shape? Martha seemed to sense the refusal on the tip of Donna's tongue because she pressed, "Listen, right now you have no good hands because one arm has been shot and the other is holding the bandage in place. If I wrap you up, it will take two seconds, I swear, and then you'll have at least one of your arms free. God knows what Jack and the Doctor are gunna have us to do next. Best be ready for anything, yeah?"

"Only if you'll help Rose after," Donna offered a compromise even though she was sure that was already Martha's plan.

Martha looked over to where Rose was struggling to breathe. The girl's eyes had glazed over and she didn't even bat an eye at relative strangers discussing her medical care as if she weren't sitting right there. Donna could see how Martha had wanted to take care of her simple bullet wound first. Even as a proper doctor, Martha probably didn't even know where to begin with Rose's injuries.

"Of course," Martha nodded. True to her word, the gauss was wrapped in seconds and then Martha enlisted Donna's help with tending to Rose. Owen had already looked over the girl's extremities, but in a uncharacteristic case of decency, left the abdomen and chest exam to Martha.

"Rose? Can you hear me?," Rose seemed to expel great effort in the simple act of turning her head towards where Martha was crouched next to her. She nodded. "Good. I'm Martha, Martha Jones. I'm a doctor, a proper doctor unlike someone else we know, and I'd like to take a look at your stomach and chest. Is that ok?"

"Martha," Rose smiled despite her drooping eyes and lolling head, "the Doctor told me so much about you. I'm so happy we got to meet. You took good care of him. Thank you."

"Well it's not like he needs a keeper, yeah?" Martha seemed uncomfortable with Rose's gratitude. Or maybe it was just discomfort at talking to the person who's ghost Martha had probably thought of as a rival once.

"Course he does," Rose snorted weakly and grinned.

"Yeah, s'pose." Martha smiled back, some of her reservations seeming to relax. Donna held her tongue although she had plenty to say on that matter.

"But can I look you over, Rose?" Martha asked again.

"Oh," Rose murmured, "Yeah, 'course."

Donna held Rose's hand tightly as Martha set about palpating her abdomen. Though the young doctor was gentle, the exam obviously caused Rose discomfort. Martha kept murmuring "sorry" and Rose would reassure her, "'S alright. Keep going."

As Martha was wrapping up the examination, the Doctor ran over, "Alright door's sorted. And guess what!"

"You've got a plan!" somehow, Rose managed to beam despite her condition.

"Right in one Rose Tyler!" the Doctor grinned back, though there was still worry in his eyes as his gaze swept over Rose. "So obviously we won't be getting to that getaway ship…"

"I knew it was a bad idea to use my best ship on a dangerous rescue mission," Jack grumbled from across the room where he was fussing over Ianto. The Welshman seemed to be just starting to come to.

"Wait, your _best _ship? You mean you have others? Why haven't you ever taken us off world then?" Gwen glared at Jack, "I thought you had to pull strings and shell out gobs of funds for just the one we used!"

Probably sensing a tiff, _domestics_ as he'd call it, the Doctor jumped into his explanation, "Aaaaanyway," he drew out the word to get everyone's attention focused back on him, "Between me, Jack, and you too, Tosh, I reckon we can pilot this thing. Space stations usually just kind of float around, but they do have some propulsion. They need some way to keep from crashing into things, after all. And with a bit of jiggery-pokery we can amp that up to really get us movin'. Then I can fix Jacks vortex manipulator which will work as soon as we are in our original universe. Thing is, I'm not sure how good this space station will be at flying once we cross over, so we'll have to move quickly in case it starts to break down. Jack can take four others at once, so we'll go in two groups. First Donna, Rose, Martha, and Owen and then Me, Ianto, Tosh and Gwen. Easy-peasy! Capiche?"

"Sounds mad," Donna said, though really she truthfully was more impressed than skeptical.

"Just mad enough!" the Doctor winked. "But before I start with that…" he knelt down in front of Rose and Martha and his voice went from maniacally authoritative to soft and worried, "How are you doing, Rose?"

"Been better. Been worse," she said with a tired smile.

The Doctor shot her a skeptical look. "Martha and Owen, actual qualified medical people who I can trust, how is Rose doing?"

"Oi!" Rose protested, but it was weak, given force more from inflection than volume.

"Most of the bandages are in tact, so bleeding isn't a huge problem," Owen reported, seeming unconcerned with going over Rose's head. Donna looked at Rose's red-soaked bandages and raised and eyebrow. If that wasn't a huge problem, Donna didn't want to know what was.

"Well, not externally anyway," Martha said meaningfully. Donna assumed that meant internal bleeding _was_ a problem, but couldn't be sure. She was a temp, not a doctor.

The Doctor's face darkened, "Yeah, I was afraid of that. Upper left abdomen?"

"Yeah, and sort of in the middle too," Martha answered.

The Doctor knelt down in front of Rose and took her hand. He stroked the back of it with his thump and used his other hand to cup the side of the face. "You're going to be ok," he assured her once again, "We're almost to the TARDIS. We're almost home."

Donna looked away, feeling like an intruder when Rose's eyes welled up at the Doctor's words.

"Home," Rose whispered and Donna could imagine the smile that went with the word that meant so much more than Donna could even know.

"Yep," the Doctor popped the p. "You just hang in there a little while longer, ok?"

"How long exactly?" Owen didn't feel so dissuaded from intruding.

"Er…dunno? Minutes? An hour? Two? Five? Hard to tell until I look at the controls and our current coordinates."

Martha and Owen exchanged a grave look. It didn't take a genius to figure out their silent communication meant Rose may not have that much time.

"Get going then," Rose turned to kiss the Doctors palm where it still cupped her cheek.

The Doctor grinned, dropped another kiss on Rose's forehead and was off in a gangly blur of grey pinstripes towards where Jack was already fiddling with the controls and Tosh was furiously typing at some kind of keyboard.

The rest of them remained quiet for several minutes. The relief that all this would be over soon warred with concern over Rose who was still miraculously conscious. Donna had the extra layer of rather distracting throbbing pain. She adjusted her arm trying to find a more comfortable position.

"Oh blimey! Sorry Donna, I forgot," Martha scooted over to Donna when she noticed her fidgeting and brandished a syringe filled with clear liquid. Donna eyed it suspiciously.

"What that then?" she demanded, leaning away from the needle bearing doctor.

"Just a numbing agent. It won't last all that long," Martha said apologetically, "but it'll help take the edge off for now. Ok?"

"I'm not going to end up dancing around on tables singing an alien love ballad or anything, am I?" Donna asked.

"No," Martha laughed, "it's not systemic so no cognitive side effects. But after I'm done, I think I'm going to need to hear the story behind that one!"

Donna allowed Martha to inject her arm, only squirming a little as the medication stung for a few seconds. Then she let out a deep breath as the throbbing dulled to a duller, gnawing pain. "That did the trick. Thanks." Donna smiled, "Oh and there's definitely a story there, but it was the Doctor, not me."

"No!" Martha laughed and Rose seemed to perk up momentarily.

"Oh yes! That bloody idiot grabbed the wrong vial when he was doing our inoculations before we went to this one mildewy planet and, my god, he went _bonkers_! Whatever it was, it didn't seem to affect humans, but _he_ was singing and dancing around the TARDIS like he thought he was Freddy bloody Mercury! Course he can't sing for beans! I nearly collapsed a lung laughing! Or at least I did until I realized there weren't any earplugs on the TARDIS. After five hours of him yowling on I had the worst headache…"

"Oi!" the Doctor called from where he was burrowing through a pile of wires, "It wasn't that bad!"

"You wish," Donna hollered back. Where was a half-eaten pear when she needed one?

They all laughed, which for Donna sent a mild twinge through her newly numbed arm, and for Rose it must have been agony. Sure enough, a second later Rose cried out before listing to the side and heaving at Martha's feed. Martha scuttled out of the way just in time, but Owen was not so quick and got some of the splatter on his shoes.

"Oh god!" Rose said between heaves, "'M so sorry! I didn't mean…" but then she could no longer speak.

Donna scooted closer to hold Rose's hair back with her good arm as the girl continued to be violently sick. She caught Martha's gaze over Rose's head and they shared horrified glances. Rose was throwing up blood.

"Doctor!" Martha called frantically.


	32. Chapter 32

_They all laughed, which for Donna sent a mild twinge through her newly numbed arm, and for Rose it must have been agony. Sure enough, a second later Rose cried out before listing to the side and heaving at Martha's feed. Martha scuttled out of the way just in time, but Owen was not so quick and got some of the splatter on his shoes._

"_Oh god!" Rose said between heaves, "'M so sorry! I didn't mean…" but then she lost the ability to talk._

_Donna scooted closer to hold Rose's hair back with her good arm as the girl continued to be violently sick. She caught Martha's gaze over Rose's head and they shared horrified glances. Rose was throwing up blood._

"_Doctor!" Martha called frantically. _

Donna watched as the Doctor tumbled out of the nest of wires he'd somehow managed to burrow into up to his shoulders. It was rare that the Doctor responded to his companions the first time they spoke when he was in what Donna thought of as his "tinkering fog," but this time, the urgency in Martha's voice got his attention right away.

"What is it? What's happened!?" he asked as he half fell, half ran over towards where Donna, Owen, and Martha were working together to try to support a still heaving Rose. But before anyone could answer, he was close enough to see for himself. Everyone but Donna was still focused on Rose, so she was the only one who noticed the utter panic in the Doctor's eyes before he managed to carefully school his features into a more neutral mask.

"Ah, I see," he said evenly, bending down and taking Martha's place at Rose's side across from Donna, "Don't tell me you're afraid of a bit of bodily fluids," he scoffed, addressing the two doctors. But he winked at Martha over Rose's head to let her know it was meant as a joke. "Although," he said fiddling a moment with the settings on the sonic, "I do have just the thing. Here you go Rose Tyler, sonic screwdriver! Good for what ails ya!" He aimed the sonic at Rose's head and moved it slowly down her body until it hovered over her stomach for a few seconds. Rose's retching instantly stopped, but the pain the heaving had caused was etched in every line of the girl's face. After giving her a minute to catch her breath, the Doctor and Martha helped Rose roll onto her back.

"There we go!" he pronounced proudly, "All better?"

Rose swallowed, made a face then nodded in answer.

"Oh, I almost forgot. Open up. Just like at the dentist," the Doctor jovially instructed.

Rose complied, probably too exhausted to question the odd request. Or maybe it was just a learned acceptance of the alien's eccentricities. The Doctor waved the screwdriver over her mouth, almost as if he were miming using a toothbrush. "Aaaaand that should have gotten rid of the taste and neutralized the acid," he sat back on his heels beaming, "Got to keep those pearly-whites pearly-white, eh?

After a few false starts, Rose offered the ghost of a smile and finally got out, "You think you're so impressive."

"And you know I am," he winked at her then popped back up to his feet. "Ok, back to work with me. We should be moving any minute now if Computer Girl over there can hack into the safety lock on the thrusters," the Doctor said, speaking of Tosh, "You lot just hang in there. Alright?" he asked Donna, Martha, and Owen who nodded numbly, still a bit shaken. They'd all dealt with much worse, but it was different when things were this…personal. "Alright?" he asked Rose in a softer voice. She managed a brief dip of her chin in affirmative. "Molto Bene! Off to pilot a space station through a hole between dimensions! Blimey, can you believe it!? 900 years and there's still new things to do!" With that, he turned and headed back towards the other end of the bridge.

Martha and Owen went back to tending to Rose, carefully easing her away from the mess and then helping the injured woman into a more comfortable position on her less injured side. Donna quietly slipped away, knowing where she was needed and knowing that it wasn't getting in the way by fussing over Rose.

Once standing, she stretched her stiffening legs and glanced around the large room. A few terminals away, Tosh was still working at the keyboard, hands flying over the buttons not quite as fast as Donna could have managed, but with far more purpose. Jack was also nearby, busy tinkering at what Donna took to be the station's version of a steering wheel. Gwen and a still drowsy looking Ianto assisted him by holding out bits of metal or tools as Jack asked for them. The Doctor was oblivious to it all, having paused a few meters away from his tangle of wire to gaze vacantly out the large front window. Donna slid up next to him and followed his gaze out into the depths of space. She let him acclimate to her presence for a few moments before she spoke.

"Seems to me that if a sonic can cure internal bleeding that easily, Rose could already be mostly patched up by now," Donna observed mildly.

"If only," the Doctor breathed out roughly, any trace of upity gone from his voice and posture, "I didn't stop the bleeding," he admitted, "just tricked her body into no longer being nauseated by it."

"Ah." Donna said, having expected something along those lines. "We don't have a lot of time then."

The Doctor's head drooped until his chin nearly touched his chest, "Not a whole lot, no. Not unless…ah, but even then…"

"Best get working then," Donna interrupted before the Doctor could get too lost in his mutterings. The best thing he could do for Rose, himself, all of them really, was to stay on track and get the ship moving.

The Doctor blinked and shook his head as if to rid himself of his dark thoughts, "Right! Yes. Work. Back to. Allons-y and all that," he said the usual word with none of his usual enthusiasm. The Doctor only turned back to look at her once he was half-way to being buried by wires again. He didn't speak, or even smile, but she could see the gratitude in his eyes.

"You're welcome," she offered to the unspoken sentiment.

The Doctor nodded and went back to madly sonicing whatever it was he had been working on. Donna turned to leave, unsure of what to do next, when he called her back.

"Could use some help here…" the Doctor gestured to the mess in front of him.

"I'll say," she laughed and knelt down on the other side of the tangle of wires, "What can I do?"

He handed her various tools and machine parts while rattling off an explanation she had no hope of following. Lost as she was, she must have been doing something to help, because the Doctor's flurry of movement sped up a few degrees.

And so, the two of them worked and time started to slip by. After several minutes Donna thought she could understand more about the Doctor's whole "tinkering fog" thing. There was something reassuring in the whole universe narrowing down to holding that switch there and soldering this wire to another bit of metal here. The only words exchanged were a murmur of direction or a brief question. She even started to think she almost understood the general idea behind what they were doing, though if she thought too hard, the concept dissolved again. Donna was so consumed by this dance of metal and wires that she didn't notice another round of commotion breaking out from the vicinity of Rose and the two proper doctors until the alien next to her suddenly looked up, staring hard in that direction.

Donna followed his gaze and saw Martha and Rose in some sort of a disagreement. "No, listen Rose, you can't! You have to stay awake, ok?" Martha said desperately.

Rose mumbled something back that Donna couldn't quite catch.

"No! Listen, just keep your eyes open and focus on me. I know it's hard, but you have to. You _have_ to, Rose. Just, here, squeeze my hand and…I don't know, tell me about how you and the Doctor met."

"Martha," the Doctor cut in calmly, quite at odds with the tension building on the other side of the room, "It's ok, let her sleep."

Martha blanched, looking incredulous, "But she can't! What if -"

"Listen, Martha, I don't have time to explain completely," the Doctor interrupted, looking generally regretful to leave his friend in the dark yet again, "but the gist of it is Rose can heal herself, but only when she's asleep. I promise, that's the best thing we can do for her right now. Just let her sleep." Then to Rose, "It's alright, love. You just rest and when you wake up, we'll be home. Or at least closer to."

Donna watched as Rose smiled and seemed immensely relieved to finally allow her eyes to drift shut. Martha stared helplessly at Rose before lifting her eyes to meet the Doctor's again.

"Trust me, Martha. Please?" the Doctor asked.

Martha finally seemed to relax, "Yeah. Yeah, of course. You've been a doctor longer, after all," she shared a grin with the him, "I'll just…keep watch over her then."

"Thank you," the Doctor sighed. Donna hadn't realized the Doctor had been tense himself until he too relaxed, "Just watch her breathing, and if you can take her pulse every few minutes without waking her, and…"

"Leave 'er alone, Doctor," Rose grumbled, "'M fine. Just quit nattering."

The Doctor smiled indulgently. "She's always so grumpy when she's tired," he said to Donna.

Donna expected a remark or two from Rose at this, but it appeared that the younger woman was already asleep. Martha nodded to the Doctor and settled in to watch over her patient. With a last longing look at Rose, the Doctor turned back to his work, asking Donna to strip the yellow wires in the bunch he held out to her and stripping the green ones of a separate bundle himself. It wasn't long before they were back in the easy rhythm they and achieved earlier.

Things seemed to move quickly after that. The team's collective efforts broke through the system like it was a chain of dominoes, Tosh being the first to step back from the keyboard with a look of satisfaction on her face, only to be followed by a cry of victory from Jack and a grin from the Doctor as he put the last circuit in place accompanied by a shower of sparks. After a brief check on Rose, the Doctor stepped up to the navigation controls and pushed, to his great delight, the big red button that would start up the engines or thrusters or whatever it was that made a space station move. And move it did, far more rapidly than Donna would have thought possible for a ship it's size. Leaving Jack and the Doctor to man the controls, the others faded back to join Martha, Owen, and a sleeping Rose against the far wall. At first, Donna wondered at how Rose was sleeping through all the racket. For even though they all were talking only in whispers, if at all, the roar of the engines (or thrusters or whatever) and the incessant pounding of guards trying to break through the door to the bridge were plenty loud. But after a while, the cacophony blended together as background noise and Donna felt herself relaxed by the steady rocking of the space station in flight.

Donna woke abruptly as a jolt of turbulence shook the ship an indeterminate amount of time later. Her surprised exclamation joined the chorus of others as they were shaken awake as well. It seemed that she and Rose were not the only ones to have succumbed to exhaustion. But whatever rest they had gotten was over. Donna sensed it would be time to move soon, even before anyone spoke.

"Alright over there?" Jack called over his shoulder as the Doctor continued to steer the ship. Based on his taught arm muscles and wide stance, it looked like more of a challenge than the smooth sailing it had been before. Donna tried not worry too much about what that meant.

"Hanging in there," Gwen answered the Captain with a yawn.

"Good. As we get closer, there may be a bit more turbulence, but it shouldn't be too bad. Nothing like when this guy pilots the TARDIS," Jack jerked his head at the Doctor.

"Oi!" the Doctor said, clearly offended, "How often do I have to tell you people, the piloting of a trans-dimensional, highly sophisticated, sentient ship is nothing at all like -"

"Yeah, whatever you say, Doc," Jack clapped the alien on the back, "Just get us home and I'll rethink your status as the universe's worst pilot."

"Do you see this?" the Doctor huffed, "Do you see what I have to put up with from this one?" he sighed as if Jack's teasing was a great burden, "Why don't you go do something useful, Captain, and get your vortex manipulator ready for the jump…setting three point eight apple four," the Doctor said, tossing Jack his sonic.

With a gleeful look, Jack patched up his vortex manipulator and came over to join Donna and the others as he started entering coordinates and double-checking the settings.

"Still with us, Rosie?" he asked, taking a break after a few moments. Donna hadn't realized she had been shaken awake with the rest of them.

"You bet," Rose grinned back. It seemed the sleep truly had done her well. There was a light to the young woman's eyes that Donna hadn't realized had been missing earlier.

"You look better," Donna offered, hoping to receive a confirmation from the girl.

"Feel better too," Rose nodded and grinned. She tried to push herself up to a sitting position and laughed when nearly everyone lunged forward to help her. "Oi, at ease!" she giggled and this time the act didn't seem to bring her as much pain. After a moment she bit her lip and amended, "On second thought, perhaps just a little bit of help?" Martha, being closest, stepped in and soon Rose was sitting up against the wall. "Thanks," she panted at the mild exertion, "Was weird laying on the floor with all you staring down at me."

"Oh, c'mon, I bet you're used to people staring at you. Clean you up and I think you wouldn't be half-bad to look at," Owen said. Donna knew from experience that his version of flirting left one feeling like they'd stepped in something foul. How the bloke managed to have an endless string of women following him home from the pubs was beyond her.

"Harper," Jack growled. But Rose just waved him off good-naturedly.

"Oi, you're a bit of an arse, then, aren't you?" she laughed, "but even if whatever that was had actually been flattering, I'm taken."

"Too right you are," the Doctor called from his place battling with the navigation system.

There were many a pleased looks swapped around at this open admission from both of them. Based on her experience and what Jack had told her, Donna knew this was a long time coming.

Just then, Jack's vortex manipulator started beeping. He glanced down, fiddled with some buttons and then called to the Doctor, "I'm reading ETA in five minutes. You?"

The Doctor glanced to the side at one of the gauges, "Four minutes, fifty six seconds!" he confirmed. "Time to get ready everyone! Oh, and hang on. This is about to get bumpy."

True to his word, the ground Donna was sitting on started to vibrate and roll. It wasn't bad, but Donna felt for Rose as she heard the younger woman groan at the jostling movement.

"Ok, everyone remember the order?" Jack asked. When everyone nodded he continued, "Good, then group one, over to the left. I'll sit in the middle and you all just make sure you're touching some part of me." He grinned saucily, "And yes, that's an invitation to _any_ part of me."

There was a murmur of exasperation and a good natured sigh from Ianto, but the focus was mostly on getting into position. The only hitch was when Rose initially refused to be carried by Jack.

"I'm perfectly fine to hang on like the rest of you!" she said fiercely.

Jack didn't even answer, just glared at her witheringly until she relented. "Oh fine then, but hands to yourself Jack! You may enjoy people touching you wherever, but -"

"I'll be on my best behavior, Rosie." Jack promised, "Scouts honor."

Donna was impressed that Rose managed to hold in all but a few whimpers as Jack carefully eased her into his arms and stood. Once settled, she rested her head against his shoulder and relaxed limply into his arms. The girl put on a good show, but Donna knew she was still in pretty bad shape. It would be better when they were back in the TARDIS with some proper medical facilities. Luckily, that appeared to be a real possibility any moment now. Gwen and Tosh helped Donna up and she reached out her good arm to grab the back of Jack's shirt as she braced against the wall to stay standing with the intensifying turbulence.

The last three minutes before the jump seemed to stretch on forever. This plan of the Doctor's seemed more and more dodgy the more Donna thought about it. Could that small device on Jack's wrist really transport all five of them. Could it really be precise enough to land them back in the hub? Just landing on the right planet in the right decade seemed like enough of a challenge for the Doctor. Was she moments away from being flung into a burning star of black hole? From Jack's stories of vortex manipulator travel, it was pretty rough. How was Rose going to get through this with her condition already being so precarious. It was almost enough for Donna to want to let go of Jack's shirt and beg him and the Doctor to come up with something else, something safer that made more bloody sense. But, in the end, she had to admit that she trusted the both of them. As the final countdown commenced, she just tried to breath through the fear, barely hearing the Doctor's shouts wishing them luck and assuring Rose he would be with her in just a few minutes.

Then, there was a deafening screech and Donna felt as if she were being flung through time and space by her intestines. For a few terrifying seconds, she felt compressed into a box that was cold, darker than anything she'd ever experienced, and far too small for her body. Just when she was sure something had gone wrong and these were her last moments to live, reality slammed back into being with the force of something large and unyielding - like a truck, or maybe a train. The wind was thoroughly knocked out of her and it was all she could do not to heave onto whoever it was whose limbs she was tangled up in. It took several gasping breaths before she fully came to and realized she was in the middle of a heap of humans on the floor of the hub. Though her injured arm was throbbing enough to make her eyes water and she still felt as if she would be sick any moment, she realized she had fared better than others. Owen had crawled a few paces away and was on all fours, retching noisily. Martha appeared to be just coming to with a sizable bump growing on her forehead. But worst of all was the desperate sound of Jack trying to wake a frighteningly still Rose.

"Rose!" he screamed, already having called her name several times, "C'mon Rosie, wake up. Please, wake up!"

"Mmmmph," Donna was beyond relieved to see the girl stir and murmur her annoyance. "Doctor said to let me sleep," she grumbled.

Jack let out a relieved breath, "Yeah, but you weren't exactly asleep just now. You were out cold! Sorry the trip was a bit rougher than I remember…"

"Yeah, well whatever I was before, I'm going to be again. Go get the Doctor, because when I wake up, I expect to be in my room on the TARDIS surrounded by…"

But whatever it was she wanted was left unsaid as Rose sank back into unconsciousness. With the TARDIS so close and the Doctor just a vortex hop away, Donna thought this escape from awareness may be the best thing for her. Donna wished for a bit of unconsciousness herself as she finally used a table to pull up into a standing position. She felt like she had ran the entire distance they had just traveled and knew she wasn't yet free from the threat of being sick. Before any of them fully got their bearings, Jack had disappeared again.

The rest of the gang appeared with a pop a minute later in much the same shape her group had arrived. Jack looked especially harried after the back-to-back jumps. Only the Doctor popped right up, bending to scoop up Rose before dashing off to the corner of the hub that had housed the TARDIS for the past several weeks.

_Blimey_, Donna thought, _we did it. We're really back home in the right time, Doctor and Rose in toe. _ She grinned tiredly and sank down into the nearest chair.


	33. Chapter 33

**Oh my goodness! Thank you so much for the reviews! I love reading what readers think with each new chapter! Seriously, you guys are awesome!**

**BTW, this is the second to last chapter. Enjoy. :)**

* * *

Rose felt a perplexing combination of agony and comfort when she swam up from the depths of unconsciousness. Her body ached all over, and though she was just waking, she felt like she could sleep for days still. The worst of the pain was centered in her chest and abdomen, causing her to take quick, shallow breaths from the tube blowing cool oxygen into her nose. And yet…she was surrounded by a warmth that wasn't just due to the fluffy blanket she was wrapped in. There was a soft humming in the background and a gentle hand running through the hair at the crown of her head. When the hand moved to cup her cheek and she felt the slight coolness of the skin that she knew belonged only to the Doctor, she struggled to open her eyes despite the tug back towards sleep.

She couldn't help but grin when the first thing she saw was the warm chocolate eyes of the man she loved.

"Good morning…or afternoon rather," he said in a gravely voice that made her think he hadn't talked for some time before greeting her. Then he said three words that were among the most beautiful Rose had ever heard, "Welcome home, love."

_Home_. Rose let out a sigh of relief and had to blink rapidly to control the moisture that had pooled in her eyes. After all this time…after all those years of heartache and then the horror of the last few months, after so many times when she thought she would never make it here, she was finally home. Free and safe and here with her Doctor. "Home," she echoed the word with wonder in her voice.

"Yep, Universe Prime and back in the TARDIS," the Doctor beamed. Rose furrowed her brow and glanced around the room. Yes, she was indeed in the TARDIS. The unmistakable hum and coral walls told her that much even before the Doctor had confirmed their location out loud. But this room…she didn't recognize it. Sensing her confusion he went on to explain, "Your room was a bit, eh… messy shall we say? I had kept it pretty much how you left it before Canary Wharf..."

"Oi," Rose protested weakly. It was still difficult to take in the breath necessary for speech. "'S wasn't that bad."

"Rose love, most of your wardrobe is either on the floor or bed, not to mention nail polish, hair brushes and the like," the Doctor laughed at Rose's scowl. But she knew he was right. Even now, being neat wasn't her strong suit and at twenty she rarely managed to keep her room anything tidier than mildly controlled chaos. "It's quite fine, endearing even. Very…Rose," the Doctor smiled down at her, "But be that as it may, I wasn't about to risk tripping and dropping you or laying you down on the uneven surface of that nest of a bed of yours. I, er, figured my room was ok?" he finished tugging on his ear with his free hand.

"Course," she smiled. Oh her daft alien. After all they had shared and everything they had been through he was still nervous about their relationship. Right now she was a bit fuzzy, her emotions muted, but even so, she felt nothing but contentment at the rightness of being in his bed. And that thread of thought, of what it could mean for their future, caused her to blush furiously. The Doctor was kind enough to avert his eyes to glance over the room. She watched as his gaze moved over the dark wood furniture with deep blue and gold accents. "The TARDIS made some changes though. In your honor. It's a bit less…stark than it was. More homey. To be honest, I rather like it."

"S' perfect," Rose smiled, her embarrassment of moments ago drifted away to be replaced by a deep affection for both the ship and her pilot. She closed her eyes to send a heartfelt thanks and greeting to the Old Girl and basked in the love carried in the ships hummed reply.

"She's so happy you're back," the Doctor whispered. Rose could hear his own deep feelings in the words. She just smiled and kept her eyes closed a few seconds longer to allow them to take in this moment. Whatever was making her thoughts sluggish was also holding at bay what she imagined would be some difficult things they both would have to work through. But right now, all that faded to the background. All she had to do was enjoy being home, enjoy the Doctor's cool hand in her own.

When she finally opened her eyes, the Doctor was staring at her intently, "How are you feeling?" She knew it had taken him great restraint not to begin with the question.

Rose didn't quite have the energy to censor herself in her reply. "Horrid," she groaned and then punctuated with a breathy laugh, "But I supposed a bit better than before?…Dunno, 's a little…don't 'member a lot. Mind's full of holes. Like Swiss cheese," she giggled until it made her wince, "but I remember lots of screaming and carrying on. Ugg, how embarrassing."

The Doctor chuckled and shifted on the seat that was drawn up by her bed so he was as close as possible without actually getting on the plush mattress with her. Rose rather wished he would abandon the chair and do just that. After everything, what she wanted most, even more than a five day long nap and to figure out why her head felt like it was full of cotton, was to feel his arms wrapped around her.

"You have nothing to be embarrassed about, but I reckon you already know that," he said breaking her out of her thoughts, "You were amazing, Rose. Completely brilliant, and beyond brave."

Rose scoffed, "'M not the one who came up with a way to get us out of there and carried it out…" Rose struggled to find the word on the tip of her tongue, " Oh! Magnificently. You carried it out magnificently," she smiled at him with the tongue touched grin she knew he loved.

"Well…I did have help. And I don't know if magnificently is the word for it," Rose was surprised to see the Doctor's features darken until he continued. "I almost lost you," he whispered and there was no masking to the anguish in his voice.

He brought her bandaged hand up to his lips before grasping it firmly as if he were afraid she would disappear.

"I had no idea if we could get through to this universe in time to get you help…and vortex travel without a capsule in your condition…" here the Doctor had to take a breath to compose himself. Rose gave his hand a squeeze with all her strength, which admittedly wasn't very much at the moment. He hardly seemed to notice, trapped in whatever he was reliving, "When I materialized in the hub and saw you, you were so still, Rose. I thought for a second…"

Rose spoke up before he could get too lost in what-ifs, "'M still here, Doctor," she reassured him, "So no matter what you thought, and no matter what could or couldn't 'ave happened, we all made it. So stop torturing yourself. You did it. You saved us, saved me. Like you always do."

Then the thought occurred to her that perhaps something may have gone wrong with one of the others to cause the Doctor's face to hold such grief as he shook his head at the words she had meant as comfort. "Doctor, everyone else… they're ok, yeah?" she asked hesitantly.

The Doctor's face lightened at that and he was quick with his reassurance, "Yep! Fine, everyone's fine," he said brightly, "Some bruises to both skin and dignity, and Donna's arm will be sore for a few days, but otherwise fine."

"And I suppose you, Mr. Superior Biology Man are just fine too," Rose stated, but it was really her way of making sure he was alright, at least physically.

"Of course," he smiled, "Indestructible, me."

A quiet settled over them for a few moments. "And me?" Rose asked, "On the mend, yeah?" She hated how her voiced wavered at the question. She didn't want the Doctor to know, but the truth was that there was a growing fear slowly pushing it's way through the haze she was in. She felt like it had been touch and go for so long now that she couldn't be sure of anything. What if even the TARDIS medical technology wasn't enough? What if there was permanent damage? If she couldn't run…and her head felt so fuzzy and there was still so much pain…

"You'll be fine too," the Doctor said softly, reaching up with his free hand to cup her cheek. She wasn't sure if she was ashamed or comforted by the understanding in his eyes. Probably a mix of both. She never wanted him to think of her as weak, and yet here she was, frightened for herself even though she was in the best care in the universe. "I promise," he added as he wiped the tears from her cheeks. "You've been stabilized for a couple of days now and barring jumps through the vortex and climbing through air ducts, you'll only get better. It will take time, but you'll make a full recovery."

"Yeah?" Rose asked tearfully.

"Oh yes, Rose Tyler. We'll be running into and then out of mischief again in no time." He leaned over to leave a soft kiss on her lips. Even in her foggy state, the kiss sent a wave of warmth through her. She took a risk and brought her arm up to tug him back down to her lips by his unruly hair. It only partly worked. His lips did come back to capture hers, and eagerly, but she was too busy crying out in pain to enjoy it.

"Oh Rose, I'm so sorry! Let me get you something for the pain," he slipped a button into the hand that wasn't occupied by his own, "Press this whenever it hurts, as often as you like."

Rose glanced down at the button skeptically.

The Doctor laughed, "It's safe, I promise. Can't overdose and no side effects. Weeellll, it will make you sleepy, and as you can already tell, and perhaps more than a little bit…groggy, but that's about it."

"So no dancing on tables and singing?" she asked with a cheeky grin that was laced with the relief she felt at finding out the cause of her dopiness.

The Doctor laughed again, heartily and freely this time and Rose couldn't help joining in as much as her body would allow, "Not just yet."

"But I already feel so fuzzy…" she said uncertainty, "You sure I can have more of this stuff?"

"Absolutely," he promised, "Why don't you give that button a few presses and get some more rest. I'll be here when you wake up, promise."

Rose was more than willing to comply, but there was one thing she wanted to get settled before she went back to la-la land. "Under one condition," she challenged the Doctor, "you go and get yourself into a proper suit, not this grey rubbish, get something to eat, and get a bit of sleep, yeah? I know I'm probably not one to talk, but you look a mess, Doctor."

He raised his eyebrows and looked down at his dusty and bloodstained suit, seeming to think of his own state for the first time in who knew how long. "Blimey, I do look a sight. I'm surprised you weren't scared when the first thing you saw after a three day nap was a swamp monster!"

"I could never be scared of you," Rose reassured him, filing the information of how long she'd been out, and she guessed, how long it had been since the Doctor had rested, away for later contemplation. "Now go get yourself cleaned up, and maybe talk to one of those brilliant friends of yours while you're at it. They went through a lot of trouble to rescue us and don't think I don't know that you've been holed up in here ever since we got back." The Doctor's sheepish look confirmed it. He opened his mouth to argue but Rose beat him to it, "I'm serious, Doctor. In a few minutes I'm going to be sound asleep. I won't know whether you're here or not. So use that time to take care of yourself, yeah?"

"I suppose I could manage," the Doctor grudgingly agreed.

"Good," Rose nodded before fumbling after the pain pump button.

"Here let me -" the Doctor began before Rose shot a glare his way. He stepped back, holding his hands up to show he wouldn't dare try to help her. With some difficulty due to bandaged fingers and restricted movement of her arms and torso she finally managed to give the button a couple of presses. It took just seconds before her pain started to fade into a sleepy warm feeling. She blinked up at the Doctor, who was now no more than a vague blurry outline.

She felt more than saw him lean down to press a kiss to her forehead, "Sleep well, love."

She happily complied.

Rose woke sometime later to the sound of whispered voices. She listened without taking in the words for a few minutes before she decided to commit to fully waking up. She blinked her eyes open, glad that the TARDIS had dimmed the lights in the room to ease her transition from unconsciousness.

She turned her head to see who the hushed voices belonged to and felt a warm wave of happiness when she saw her Doctor, Jack, and Donna playing a game of cards at a little round table that had appeared since she'd last seen the room. They were making an extraordinary effort to be quiet, but their competitive natures could not be restrained, even if their volume was. In the place of talking, there were fierce gesturing and angry whispering about "cheating aliens," and "sore-losing apes."

Rose let this pantomimed argument play out for a while before she asked, "So who's winning?"

The effect of her inquiry was comical. The Doctor threw down his set of cards and needlessly leapt over the table to scramble to her beside. "Rose!" he said, half happily and half concerned, "I didn't realize you were awake!"

"I gathered," she giggled, "That was quite the comedy act you lot had going on there. Should form some kind of improv group or somethin'."

"Oh we were just…" the Doctor glanced back at Jack and Donna before trailing off and bringing his focus back to her, "How are you feeling?"

"You keep asking me that," she sighed. The Doctor just stared back at her, raising his eyebrows as he waited for a proper answer. "Oh alright, I'm feeling much better, thanks."

"Brilliant!" the Doctor beamed, looking relieved.

"How long was I out this time?" Rose yawned, noticing the Doctor had indeed changed back into his brown suit, and by the looks of him, had eaten and gotten some rest as well.

"Er…" the Doctor scratched the back of his head awkwardly, "Well…technically just a few hours."

Rose narrowed her eyes, "And not technically?"

"Er…two or three days? But who's counting?" he said.

"What!?" Rose half screeched, "You didn't tell me those meds were so bloody strong!"

"Well that's because they aren't," the Doctor stated matter-of-factly, "I er…sort of…pressed that button a few times. On your behalf, of course."

Rose glared at him until Jack jumped to his rescue, "He was just making sure you were comfortable. Every time you started to wake up, you started to whimper and so he, or whoever was around, pushed some more meds through," he said nodding at the IV in her forearm. Now her glare was focused on Jack. "Hey," he waved his hands as if to ward off her look, "You can't really blame us, you were pretty pathetic, Rosie. It wasn't exactly easy to watch you suffer when we could do something about it."

Rose let out a frustrated breath, "Ugh, fine. But now it's what…six days that I've been laying here like a lump? I'm probably all atrophied and gross," she pouted.

"You could never be gross," the Doctor assured her. He was so genuine, with his large puppydog eyes and solemn face that Rose lost whatever irritation she had left.

"Oh, c'mere you," she laughed at him, "Help me sit up so I can give you a proper hug."

"And snog?" Jack asked hopefully. Rose snorted as Donna flicked him on the arm. "Good to see you awake Rose, but I think I need to remove this pathological flirt from the premises so you and the Doctor can get some quality alone time." Donna began dragging Jack out of the room by his arm.

"Won't be _quality _alone time without me," Jack winked.

"You're proving my point," Donna rolled her eyes, "Now c'mon Harkness. Rose, Doctor, see you later."

"Good to see you feeling better Rosie!" Jack called just before the TARDIS took the liberty of closing the door after him.

Rose laughed, "He's unstoppable, he is."

"Yeah, that's Jack," the Doctor sighed, distractedly running his hand through his hair.

"So you going to help me sit up or what?" Rose reminded him.

"Oh! Right! Sorry," he took his sonic out of his front suit pocket and pointed it at the bed. "And just to let you know, you may get a little dizzy at first. Perfectly normal when you've been recumbent for so long. But don't worry, your orthostatic tolerance will come back in a jiffy."

"Right. I almost understood all that," Rose rolled her eyes.

The Doctor just grinned at her and activated the sonic. The top of the bed slowly began to raise until she was at about a thirty degree angle from laying flat on her back. She thought the Doctor had been overreacting, but even this slight elevation had her seeing spots of black.

"Ugg," she moaned as a wave of nausea accompanied the light-headedness.

The Doctor re-pocketed the screwdriver and sat facing her on the side of the bed. He grabbed one of her hands in both of his and assured her, "Hang in there. Should only last a few seconds. Your body just needs more time to adjust to gravity than usual."

Sure enough, her vision steadily cleared and the urgent need to empty her stomach faded with the black spots.

"Hello," she grinned up at the Doctor once she could properly see him again.

"Hello," he completed the routine before easing her into a gentle hug.

Rose burrowed her face in his neck, letting his scent reassure her that they were together, that she was safe. All too soon, her muscles started to fatigue and her grip around his shoulders started to loosen against her will. The Doctor carefully helped her back into the soft pillows and gave her a moment to catch her breath. Blimey she was out of shape! But at least it didn't hurt all that much. For the first time in what felt like ages she could see a positive trend starting.

"Bit better now?" the Doctor grinned at her.

"Mmm much!" she said happily, "And it didn't hurt as much as I expected either. I guess I still heal myself pretty well then."

The Doctor scratched at the back of his head again, "Er…not quite. I had to put you under to treat the worst of your injuries and then the medication for pain meant that you rarely entered into any sort of natural sleep. And then I monitored you during the bits where you were properly asleep and your healing rate didn't increase. Seems like whatever they gave you only lasts for a day or so. Good stuff that, especially for you fragile human types. Too bad it wasn't still in your system when I finally got to analyzing things or I could have reversed engineered it."

Rose furrowed her brow, "But…I feel so much better…"

The Doctor puffed up his chest, "Well, you are under the care of the best doctor this side of the void…or nearly at least."

Rose laughed, "Well that's true."

"And," the Doctor added less jubilantly, "You're still pretty banged-up, Rose. The TARDIS and I will do all we can to speed things along, but some of the healing is just going to take time. I know you feel better, and that's brilliant, but remember, you're still all but laying in bed. It will be a few days yet before you'll want to sit up for more than an hour or two at a time. I'm guessing that you won't even be up for crutches for at least a week or so."

"Ugg," Rose puffed out a frustrated breath, "Well that's just bloody brilliant. Out of one prison and into another. I'm gunna go barmy spending even more time cooped up!"

The Doctor deflated at her words, "Yeah. Sorry."

Rose rushed to reassure him, "No, I'm sorry. I reckon I'm lucky to be alive, and a little more forced relaxation isn't going to be the thing that does me in, is it? I just had thought that once we got back…"

"I know," the Doctor caressed her hand, "Things would be back to normal, Shiver and Shake running through the universe. But things will be. Before you know it, we'll be back out there. Nothing to hold us back. No more cages." Rose giggled at the wave of indignation she felt from the ship. _Not you,Girl. You could never be a cage. _

"Worth the wait," Rose said aloud to the Doctor.

"Worth the wait," he agreed. "And," he continued happily, "I've got plans for us, Rose Tyler!"

"Oh?" she giggled as he jumped up to start pacing the room in a blur of excitement.

"Oh yes! Not usually one for plans, me. But! I've had a bit of spare time on my hands while my favorite human has been snoozing away, so plans I have made!"

"Go on!" Rose said, feeling the beginnings of excitement in her stomach.

"How would you like to finish out your convalescence with you family?" The Doctor beamed at her.

"My…family?" Rose was puzzled. Did he mean her Gran? That was about the only person she was related to this side of the void, other than a few distant cousins. She loved her gran, really she did, but the woman was in the advanced stages of dementia in a home up North. Not exactly the best way to spend her recovery…

"Yes! You know, Jackie, Pete, little Tony the adorable hellion! And, I suppose we should count mister Mickey in there too. If we're grounded for a bit anyway, may as well catch up with the fam and kill two birds with one stone, eh, eh?" The Doctor said proudly.

Rose felt her heart do a flip-flop inside her chest, causing the monitor she must be hooked up to to start beeping. The Doctor walked over, squinted at the machine, and must have decided that she was fine because he used his sonic to silence it. Rose meanwhile tried to get herself together, "What? But…can we really? I thought travel through universes was rather…"

"Impossible?" the Doctor waggled his eyebrows.

"Well, yeah," Rose picked at the tape holding the IV in her forearm.

"Usually, it is. But with that handy bridge dimension it's nothing more than a bit of a bumpy ride away. And, in case anything like this came up, I've had the TARDIS outfitted for travel in Pete's World for ages! Now, we can't do extensive travel, but a few hops here and there? No problemo! So, Rose Tyler, have I impressed you."

Rose sank further into the pillows taking a few moments to process all that she'd learned in the last minute. Her family. She had resigned herself for years that it was either them or the Doctor…if she was even ever lucky enough to find the Time Lord again. She'd lived her life in Pete's world with a thin, but present veil between her and everyone else. Best not to get too attached since nothing seemed to be permanent in her life. Oh, she'd loved her family and even her friends fiercely, but in the back of her mind, she'd always hoped to someday leave them behind. It had been a difficult way to live, but the alternative, giving up on ever seeing the Doctor again, that was unthinkable. And then she was taken away to that bloody space station, and she was sure she'd never make it out of alive. For months now she thought she would lose everything, both a future with the Doctor _and_ the ability to ever see her family again. But now…what the Doctor was offering…could she literally have the best of both worlds? Could she really have _everything_? Run through her original universe with the Doctor and stop in for tea with Mum and Pete? See Tony in his school plays? It was beyond anything she'd hoped for.

"Rose," the Doctor said worriedly, waving a hand in front of her glazed eyes, "Talk to me Rose. Are you alright?"

"Brilliant," she whispered, then a huge smile stretched across her face, "Brilliant!" she laughed, only wincing a little as pain shot threw her ribs. "I never thought…sorry, just a lot to take in. But Doctor, I can safely say that I am much, much beyond impressed. Why didn't you tell me we could do this sooner?"

"Well, I wasn't 100% sure it was possible. I'd thought of bringing it up when we were trapped in that bloody room, but I needed the TARDIS to help me run through a few things and I would have hated to tell you there was a possibility and then it turned out to be false hope. I couldn't do that to you. And then, more recently, you've been a bit, well, unconscious."

Rose laughed, "Ok, I guess you're off the hook there." She paused thoughtfully before continuing, "And you had the TARDIS already ready to travel in Pete's World?"

"Ever since Bad Wolf Bay," he whispered. "Even when all my research and efforts yielded only a handful of minutes to say goodbye, I'd always hoped…"

Rose felt moisture in her eyes which she stubbornly blinked away. She had the nasty feeling that any tears, even happy ones would break the dam on some things she'd rather not deal with yet. And in true Doctor fashion, he was orchestrating things so she wouldn't have to. Even with her being all but an invalid, they were still rushing toward their next adventure. No time to look too closely at the things brewing under the surface. Always looking ahead. Always moving on, moving forward. Oh she had missed this life. And now, she needed it.


	34. Chapter 34

**Weeee! Last chapter of my first ever fanfic! Thanks so much to everyone who read and reviewed! I'd love any additional feedback, good or bad! **

**I have the sequel outlined, and plan to start writing it soon. In the meantime, I'll post some other shorter stories I have finished. Thanks again for reading! And a huge thanks to my Beta Banrion!**

* * *

The Doctor laughed as Gwen threw a chunk of pineapple at Jack when the Captain tried to knick a slice of pizza off her plate. "Oi! The box is right over there! Get your own slice!" Gwen scolded him.

"Yes, but you are within grabbing distance while the box would require getting out of this very comfortable chair. And don't think I didn't notice you eyeing my seat, Tosh," he shot a knowing look at the girl perched on the arm of the easy chair Owen was currently occupying. Tosh threw a slice of mushroom at him in retaliation and the room erupted in another round of laughter.

They were settled in the TARDIS library, which the Old Girl had been kind enough to expand and furnish to accommodate a much larger group than usual. The Doctor looked around the room at his friends and then down at the woman cuddled against his chest on their usual loveseat. The unfamiliar feeling of contentment washed over him as he joined in their shared laughter.

It had now been two days since Rose had properly woken up, and Jack, Donna, and Martha had roped him into having a celebratory pizza dinner before the two of them set out for Pete's World. The rest of the gang would stay here, all of them having too strong of ties to this universe to risk getting stuck in a different one. The risk was small, of course. Infinitesimal, really. But the Doctor had held his tongue with that reassurance, rather happy to spend a few weeks just him and Rose. Well, just him and Rose and her family. Blimey, this would be interesting. He rather wished he had held off on their plans, having some time that would really be just the two of them. But as he stole another glance at his favorite human, he saw the anguish simmering just beneath the surface in her gaze, though outwardly she was gwaffing at the Torchwood team's antics. He remembered why he was initially in such a hurry to rush into the next adventure, even if that next adventure involved an awful lot of domestics. Rose needed the distraction, and in her condition, spending time with her family was the only thing he could think of. He hoped it would help hold her demons at bay like she did for his. There was too much there that neither of them were in any state to confront.

He was torn from his musings when Rose cursed as a large splash of tea sloshed out of her mug. His hand shot out and steadied the mug just before her shaking hand would have emptied the rest of the contents all over the both of them. He'd forgotten that she probably wasn't up to lifting something so heavy yet. And Rasssilon knows she'd never ask for help. Tea steadied, he tried his best to help her hold the cup to her lips for a sip without acting like she needed the help. After a few gulps she nodded at him and he set the mug back on the coffee table in front of them.

"You must think I'm pretty pathetic," she said wrinkling her nose in that adorable way she had.

"Pathetic? You? Never, Rose Tyler. I could think of billions of other adjectives to describe you, beautiful, cheeky, brilliant…but never, ever pathetic," he assured her with a soft smile.

He would have expected her to roll her eyes and come back with a witty retort, but she just smiled tiredly and turned her attention to Jack and Tosh who were now wrestling for the coveted lounge chair. The Doctor dropped a kiss to the top of her head and ran a hand over the smooth skin of her arm. The Doctor had taken most of the bandages off earlier that day, initially scared of what he may find underneath. His worry was unfounded as hardly a scar was left on her beautiful skin. More importantly, the dermal regenerator had erased all evidence of the cruel message that had been carved onto her arms. He hoped that Rose would never have to know about that. He didn't think she had remembered so far. She hadn't said anything about it…but then again, she hadn't said much about their captivity in the last couple of days.

His caressing hand wandered down to her wrist where a hard plastic brace was stabilizing her bones as they knitted together. There was another covering her left leg and pelvis all the way up to just above her hips. That one she had been quite vocal about. He knew from experience that having such a large area of the body immobilized was uncomfortable and slightly claustrophobic. He thanked Rassilon that she would only need such an extensive getup for another day or two. After that, a shorter cast and some creative bracing would suffice. He was torn between wanting to play it absolutely safe in how long to leave these protective items in place and wanting to rush to remove them so Rose was more comfortable. In the end, Martha had stepped in to make the final decision of how long the casts would need to stay in place, bless her.

In the first chaotic hours in the TARDIS infirmary, he had managed to set and heal Rose's ribs before the TARDIS had let him know that her body had been tinkered with enough by shutting off the dermal and skeletal regenerators. The problem with even advanced medical technology was that it required resources and energy from the patient. And humans could only give so much. That was part of the reason Rose had slept so much after each torture session. Nothing, not even miraculous healing powers came without a price.

"Quit brooding," Rose's teasing voice brought him back once again.

"I wasn't…" he began, but her knowing look caused him to click his mouth shut instead of finishing that sentence. Instead he eyed her empty pizza plate, "Six slices. I think that's a record Rose Tyler! I never thought someone could regain an appetite so quickly, but then again, perhaps I underestimate your love of food."

Rose laughed and he couldn't help but beam at the beautiful sound, "Yeah it's probably that. If I wasn't stuffed to the gills already I'd be scolding your friends in their waste of perfectly good pizza toppings."

"They went to a good cause!" Gwen laughed having overheard the conversation through the continued scuffle over the chair.

"Hmmmm," Rose mused, "S'pose so. By the way, you lot know that the TARDIS would provide another chair if you asked nicely, right?"

"I don't think we all have the same relationship as you have with the ship, Rosie" Jack grunted now that Gwen, Ianto, and Tosh were teaming up to drag him out of the chair.

"Besides, this is much more fun," Tosh laughed.

"How you lot managed to get a thing done is beyond me," the Doctor said as he observed Jack's team continuing to romp like puppies.

"Oi! We've saved the world plenty of times, not to mention the whole universe once or twice!" Gwen argued once she had caught her breath from dethroning Jack. Said immortal was sitting on the floor where they had dumped him, pouting at his team's mutiny.

"Oh, don't you worry, Doctor. We can be right dull just like you'd expect from a clandestine government agency," Tosh assured him.

"Speak for yourself!" Gwen laughed.

"No, it's true. In fact, I think it's your people we have to blame for any tomfoolery around here. Donna and Martha both really know how to have a good time! They're a terrible influence!" Tosh responded from her newly won seat.

"Yeah, that's why we're sitting here eating pizza like dignified citizens while you lot are having food fights and wrestling matches." Donna snorted.

The room dissolved into laughter once again, and the Doctor couldn't help but join in.

It was good to be home. It was good to be surrounded by friends. It was good to have the woman he loved shaking with genuine laughter against his chest. It was good that they would be running together through the stars again in no time.

It was good. For however brief the moment lasted, _life_ was good.


End file.
